Evraz Group, a mining firm part-owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, has failed to block acquisition target Cape Lambert Iron Ore from selling a A$400 million (HK$2.99 billion) project to China Metallurgical Group Corp.
Shareholders in Cape Lambert, an Australian miner 19 per cent held by Evraz, approved the disposal, the company said in a statement yesterday.
Less than 1 per cent of shareholders voted against the sale, Cape Lambert executive director Tony Sage told Bloomberg. '[Evraz] took a major interest in us to stop the transaction going through but they couldn't do that.'
The iron ore mine China Metallurgical is acquiring is Cape Lambert's prime asset and is in the mineral rich Pilbara region of Western Australia. Perth-based Cape Lambert will go on to acquire and develop other assets.
'All [Evraz] has got is the exploration company and I'm not sure what that's worth to them,' said one observer.
The deal has already been approved by mainland and Australian regulators.
Cape Lambert agreed on June 11 to sell a 1.56 billion tonne iron ore mine worth US$393 million to MCC Mining, the Australian subsidiary of China Metallurgical.