Mick Davis
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Private mining venture X2 Resources, which was started by former Xstrata CEO Mick Davis, has completed its initial capital raising process, securing a total of $5.6-billion in equity capital to finance the creation of a new midtier diversified mining and metals group.
The funding, which the company noted was one of the largest ever first-time raises by a private vehicle, comprised $4-billion in committed equity capital, which was available for immediate drawdown and $1.6-billion in conditional equity capital.
“We would like to thank our investors for their support and vote of confidence and look forward to rewarding them through superior returns. The blue-chip nature of our investors and the scale of their commitments, to date, are clear endorsements of strategy and our record of creating value,” X2 principal Mick Davis said.
He added that the company would continue to carefully review a number of opportunities in the sector in detail. “While value-creating opportunities are increasingly evident, the long-term nature of our strategy provides us with the flexibility to target those opportunities where we see the greatest potential for value creation,” he added.
Meanwhile, advisory firm SP Angel noted that this was the most opportune market it has seen since the Asian Crisis for buying distressed and undervalued assets.
"New money appears to be moving into more specialist funds for mining-related investment with a number of quasi public and private equity funds springing up over the last two years, led principally by the more successful entrepreneurs of the last boom," it added.