CDB provides $267.2 million loan to HBIS to facilitate acquisition of 35% equity stake in Palabora Mining Company Limited (PMC)

On December 8, 2012, Hebei Iron and Steel Group Co Ltd (HBIS), China's largest steelmaker, a consortium of Chinese and South African companies (including Tewoo Group Co. Ltd, General Nice Development Ltd and China-Africa Development Fund (CADFund)) and South Africa's Industrial Development Corporation agreed to acquire a 74.5% equity stake from Rio Tinto and Anglo American plc. at a cost of $493 million. HBIS subsequently secured a $267.2 million China Development Bank loan (with a 7-year maturity) to facilitate the acquisition. The acquisition was completed in August 2013. Upon the completion of the transaction, HBIS operated and managed Palabora Mining Company Limited (PMC) as its largest shareholder. While HBIS acquired 35% of the shares with the help of the loan from CDB, the other 39.5% is likely to come from private resources (see project #30493). PMC (founded August 1956) is a publicly traded mining company headquartered in Phalaborwa, Limpopo province, South Africa. The company operates a single cluster of open-pit and underground mines producing mainly copper as well as byproducts such as precious metals from anode slimes, nickel sulfate, sulfuric acid, magnetite, and vermiculite. Palabora also has processing facilities on site for the production of purified copper from mined copper ore, and a vermiculite recovery plant. Its final copper product has two forms namely, copper cathode and copper rod. PMC's open cast mine is Africa's widest man-made hole at almost 2,000 m (6,600 ft) wide.

Additional details

1. Project #30493 records the contribution of the other companies in the consortium. Because it is likely a Foreign Direct Investment project, AidData currently does not include that project in the final aggregate amount.

Number of official sources

3

Number of total sources

8