This is another overseas investment case of China nonferrous metals industry four days after China Aluminum Company (hereinafter referred to as "Chinalco") announced its capital injection of US$ 654.38+09.5 billion into Rio Tinto, and it is also the first large-scale resource acquisition project of Minmetals in Australia.
At present, Australian resources companies are heavily in debt, and the debt of A $65.438+0.2 billion will expire on February 27, and the liquidation risk is very high, which just gives Minmetals an opportunity. Due to the high premium and being the only overall buyer among all competitors, Minmetals' acquisition plan was unanimously recommended by the board of directors of Australian Resources Company.
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16 In February, Minmetals Nonferrous Metals Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Minmetals Nonferrous Metals") reached an agreement with Australian Resources Co., Ltd. to acquire 0/00% equity of the latter at a price of 2.6 billion Australian dollars (about1700 million US dollars).
Australian Resources Corporation is the third largest mining company in Australia and the second largest lead and zinc enterprise in the world.
Minmetals is no stranger to Australian resource companies, and has been doing business for several years. "Since 2003, we have been in contact with exploration and development. The previous cooperation was mainly in prospecting. " Jiao Jian, deputy general manager of Minmetals Nonferrous Metals, said.
According to insiders of Minmetals, Australian Resources Company itself is a customer of Minmetals. As a trader, Minmetals has been acting as an agent for Australian resources company in China, and is very familiar with this company.
For months, the mining giant has been struggling under the economic crisis, and has been trying to cut costs and raise funds to appease financiers who threatened to bring it into bankruptcy management.
The plight of Australian resource enterprises has given Minmetals a chance to submit to humiliation. From June, 5438 to February, 2008, Minmetals, through its subsidiary Minmetals Nonferrous Metals Co., Ltd., began to discuss the acquisition with the former, and proposed to acquire the Australian resources company in full cash.
In addition to Minmetals, other competitors are also interested in acquiring the assets of Australian resource companies. Jiao Jian said that other companies also valued their individual assets, and only Minmetals made an overall acquisition.
Minmetals won the competition. According to the agreement signed by both parties in June 16, Minmetals Nonferrous Metals offered Australian Resources a purchase price of 0.825 Australian dollars per share, which was 50% higher than the valuation of 0.55 Australian dollars on October 27, 2008.
This is tantamount to giving timely help to the troubled Australian resource companies. The board of directors of Australian Resources said that the cash acquisition of Minmetals is in the interests of the company's shareholders and is the best result compared with other options.
The success of the transaction depends on the approval of Australian resources shareholders and the Australian government. Analysts said that before Chinalco acquired Rio Tinto, China enterprises' bargain-hunting for Australian resources had aroused the Australian government's vigilance.
The above-mentioned insiders of Minmetals said that it is unlikely that Minmetals will be rejected by the government because the transaction has been well received by employees of Australian resources companies.
Jiao Jian said that the acquisition of Minmetals Nonferrous Metals is a completely commercial activity, and the Australian government will generally give a reply before April, otherwise the time limit for approving the case will be delayed. I guess there's no suspense.
Core interests of Minmetals
Australian resources companies value the capital of Minmetals, and Minmetals values the rich resource reserves of Australian resources companies. Jiao Jian said that the cooperation with Australian Resources Company is based on strategic considerations, and Minmetals hopes to increase its resource reserves with the help of Australian Resources Company's mines around the world.
According to insiders of Minmetals, Australian Resources Company is rich in various metal varieties, which is highly matched with Minmetals' resources.
The content of Minmetals Nonferrous Metals website shows that copper products account for 27% of the company's sales revenue; Rare and precious metal products such as lead and zinc (including rare and precious metals such as silver and gold) account for 65,438+00% of the company's sales revenue, while tin and nickel metals account for 65,438+065,438+0% of the company's sales revenue, and the sales revenue of the three metal products accounts for nearly 50% of Minmetals' total sales revenue.
Australian resources company was formed by the merger of two companies last year, mainly producing copper, zinc, gold and silver and other metal mines. The company's zinc resources reach 6.5438+08.2 million tons, copper 5.9 million tons, gold 59.65438+0 tons, silver 6.5438+02.34 million tons, lead 2.6 million tons and nickel 200,000 tons.
Its annual output of zinc mines in Queensland, Australia is about 500,000 tons, there is a newly discovered copper-gold mine project in South Australia, copper mines and gold mines in Laos, and some projects to be developed are reserved.
In the fourth quarter of 2008, the output of copper, zinc, gold and nickel of Australian resources companies were 18300 tons, 206000 tons, 1.36 tons and1/29 tons respectively.
The two companies are very consistent in metal varieties such as copper, lead, zinc, gold, silver and tin. The advantages of Australian resources company in zinc, copper, gold and other metal varieties are obviously superior to Minmetals, which is why Minmetals is eager to acquire Australian resources company. "What is the concept of180,000 tons of zinc resources? It takes hundreds of thousands of tons to find a medium-sized mine in China. This resource is very useful to Minmetals. " The above-mentioned insiders of Minmetals said.