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KWM and Minters’ Golden placement
King & Wood Mallesons and Minter Ellison have acted on a deal that will see Shandong Gold take a majority stake in Focus Minerals through a placement valued at $227.5 million.
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Firms: Minter Ellison (Shandong Gold); King & Wood Mallesons (Focus Minerals Limited)
Area: Resources/Equity capital markets
Value: $227.5 million
Key players: The KWM team was led by partner Nicola Charlston, who was supported by solicitor Rob Kelly. Minters M&A partners James Philips (pictured), Sophie Chen and Adam Handley led for Shandong
Deal significance: Focus Minerals has four producing goldmines located at Coolgardie and Laverton in the eastern goldfields region of Western Australia and has 1650 square kilometres of tenement holdings and an existing mineral resource of 4.3 million ounces of gold. The investment by Shandong Gold will allow Focus Minerals to pursue growth opportunities and unlock the potential of its large tenement holdings and resource base. Shandong Gold International Mining Corporation Limited is a subsidiary of the Shandong Gold group Co Ltd, which is one of China’s three largest gold producers by production. The placement is subject to a number of conditions, including Shandong Gold obtaining Chinese regulatory approvals, Foreign Investment Review Board approval, the approval of Focus shareholders and no material adverse change. If the placement is approved, Shandong Gold will hold 51 per cent of all Focus Minerals shares (on a fully-diluted basis), and will appoint three representative directors to the existing Focus board of four directors. Shandong Gold International Mining Corporation is a 65 per cent owned subsidiary of Shandong Gold Group Co Ltd. The remaining 35 per cent of shares in Shandong Gold are held by Shandong State-owned Assets Investment Holdings Co Ltd, which is 100 per cent owned held by the Shandong Provincial government
