Rio Tinto sells Mount Pleasant coal assets to Salim Group unit
Wednesday, January 27 2016 - 05:09 AM WIB
ASX-listed Rio Tinto Limited said it has reached a binding agreement for the sale of its Mount Pleasant thermal coal assets in Australia?s New South Wales to MACH Energy Australia Pty Ltd, a unit of Indonesia?s well-diversified Salim Group, for US$224 million plus royalties.
With the recently announced binding agreement for the sale of Rio Tinto?s interest in the neighboring Bengalla coal Joint Venture, this amounts to US$830 million of agreed sales, Rio Tinto said in a statement Tuesday.
Rio Tinto Copper & Coal chief executive Jean-S?bastien Jacques said: ?These agreements for over US$800 million in asset sales deliver significant value for our shareholders, with the potential for future royalties from Mount Pleasant.
?We believe Mount Pleasant can have a very positive future under its new owners with different priorities for development and capital allocation,? he added.
Rio Tinto has now announced or completed US$4.7 billion of divestments since January 2013.
Mount Pleasant is a large-scale, thermal coal asset in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales with total marketable reserves of 474 million tons.
The sale is subject to certain conditions precedent being met, including completion of the restructure of Coal & Allied and regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2016.
Reports said that the royalties from the Mount Pleasant mine would only be paid when coal prices top US$72.50 a ton, well above the current price of US$47.37.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak