Embattled Australian mining mogul Nathan Tinkler has reached a settlement with coal miner Blackwood over a failed share placement deal, likely avoiding a financially damaging court battle.
Blackwood said on Tuesday that it would drop a A$28 million (HK$200 million) claim against Tinkler’s Mulsanne Resources in return for a A$12 million settlement package.
The Blackwood case was the most high profile of a series of lawsuits brought against Tinkler over missed payments and failed deals.
Tinkler, once the poster boy for Australia’s mining boom, has swung from his position as Australia’s youngest billionaire to faltering debtor in just a few months after his undiversified portfolio was left heavily exposed to plummeting coal prices.
The New South Wales Supreme Court appointed liquidators after Mulsanne failed to follow through on an agreement to buy a one-third stake in Blackwood for A$28.4 million last year.
Blackwood last month launched a lawsuit against Tinkler and fellow directors of privately owned Mulsanne for insolvent trading. The miner was also seeking to have all assets owned by Tinkler and a trust controlled by his wife frozen until the end of the case.