Anglo American’s US$3.5 billion cash acquisition of IronX Mineração from Eike Batista’s mining company MMX – which looked to be threatened by a fraud investigation into Batista’s business – has closed.
On 6 August, the UK-headquartered mining company acquired a 63.3 per cent shareholding in IronX, which holds a 51 per cent interest in the Minas-Rio iron ore project and a 70 per cent interest in the Amapá iron ore system, at a price of R$28 (US$18) per share. The same offer will be extended to the minority shareholders of IronX.
Anglo American was tempted back into the deal by Batista’s pledge to indemnify the company for any losses suffered as a result of the investigation, launched in mid July by federal police into possible fraud in the award of a concession for the Amapá railroad (reported by LATINLAWYER).
Paulo de Gouvêa, Batista’s main legal advisor says, “We are being absolutely transparent, which is the way that we conduct business.”
Batista has said the allegations are “false and totally unfounded”, calling the police investigation “a gigantic mistake.”
Counsel to MMX
In-house counsel – Paulo de Gouvêa and Claudio Lampert US
Partners John Amorosi, Manuel Garciadiaz, Kathleen L. Ferrell and Diane Kerr and associates Joana Benjamin, Paul Hodgdon, and Oliver Smith
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP Partners Kevin W Kelley and Helena Berti and associates Lisa Alfaro and Bernardo Coindreau
Brazil
Partner Carlos Barbosa Mello and Moacir Zilbovicius and associates Angélica Pedroso and Paula Vieira de Oliveira
Counsel to Anglo American
US
Partner Sergio J Galvis and associates Werner Ahlers, Arianna Pretto-Sakmann and Jaime Ramirez
Canada
Partners Sven Milelli and Roger Taplin
Brazil
Partners In Hee Cho, José Roberto Opice, José Ribeiro do Prado Júnior and Eliana Ambrósio Chimenti, associates Watson Possato, Fernando Tonanni, Liliam Yoshikawa, Flávia Ferraz, Milton Pinatti Ferreria de Souza
(Latin Lawyer online 06.08.2008)