(Adds background, detail, quote in paragraph 7)
LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) – Singapore-listed commodity
trader Noble Group will vote all its shares in
Australia’s Gloucester Coal in favour of a merger with Yancoal
Australia and will get A$412 million ($440 million) under the
deal terms.
On completion of the merger, Yancoal is expected to be the
largest independent listed Australian coal miner, Noble, which
owns nearly two-thirds of Gloucester, said on Tuesday.
China’s Yanzhou Coal Mining Company Limited, Yancoal’s
majority owner, has a clearly stated aim of growing its
Australian mining business.
Yanzhou bought Australian miner Felix Resources in 2009 for
A$3.3 billion and was required to float at least 30 percent of
the business by 2012.
Noble Group will own approximately 13.2 percent of Yancoal,
and William Randall, Noble director and Head of Hard
Commodities, will join the Yancoal board of directors.
Gloucester produced 5 million tonnes of coal in 2011 but
plans to expand substantially over the next decade, while
Yancoal exported 8.1 million tonnes in 2010.
Commenting on the merger, Noble Group Chairman, Richard
Elman said: “Creation of scale and flexibility is increasingly
important in commodity production. Yancoal will have a
multi-product, multi-mine operation of scale, which is extremely
well positioned to deliver value to shareholders.”
Under the final agreement terms, shareholders in
Sydney-based Gloucester will own 22 percent of Yancoal
and China’s Yanzhou Coal Mining Company Limited will own 78
percent.
Continued…
