JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Holding company ZCI on Tuesday said that it had received a proposal from Leboam Holdings to acquire its Messina Copper assets in Botswana.
The company in November 2015 applied for the provisional liquidation of Messina Copper, an operating subsidiary of ZCI's subsidiary, African Copper, which had been facing financial troubles owing to ongoing volatility in the copper market, as well as cash flow shortfalls.
Messina in August had interest-bearing loans totalling $104.9-million, excluding an existing convertible loan of a further $7.4-million.
Leboam, the acquiring enterprise, is an entity registered in Botswana and is wholly owned by Cradle Arc Investments, which is a newly registered entity, established for the purposes of this transaction.
Cradle Arc is, currently, wholly owned by PenMin, an entity incorporated in accordance with the laws of South Africa which offers mining, infrastructure and construction business solutions.
With effect from the acquisition’s effective date, ZCI will become a shareholder in Leboam.
The acquisition of the Messina assets by Leboam is subject to certain suspensive conditions to the offer being satisfied on October 28, including approval by the Competition Authority of Botswana.