Australia's Aeris Offers $575 Million for Glencore Copper Mine

By Robb M. Stewart

MELBOURNE, Australia--Aeris Resources Ltd. (AIS.AU) has made a US$575 million offer for Glencore PLC's (GLEN.AU) underground mine in eastern Australia, an outsized bid which could significantly lift the small copper miner's annual production.

Aeris said Wednesday that late-stage negotiations over the offer and associated documents were ongoing but are yet to be finalized, and that funding was not yet in place.

Aeris, which has a market value of just about 77.5 million Australian dollars (US$54.9 million), said its offering to the bigger resources company included $575 million in cash and another about A$50 million in its shares.

It expects the deal to be part funded through a combination of debt of up to $300 million, and an equity raising of as much as $240 million. Aeris is also in talks with potential investors, including major shareholder Hong Kong-based PAG, Orion Mine Finance and others.

A Glencore spokesman said he wasn't immediately able to comment.

The offer, which was first reported by the Australian Financial Review, wasn't guaranteed to proceed and if it does, would likely be subject to a number of conditions, Aeris said.

Aeris, whose flagship asset is the Tritton copper operations in New South Wales, is targeting production of 24,500 metric tons of the metal this financial year. The CSA mine in central-western New South Wales, produces more than 1.1 million tons of copper ore and over 185,000 tons of concentrate a year, according to the mine's website.

Rhiannon Hoyle in Sydney contributed to this article.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 20, 2019 02:11 ET (06:11 GMT)

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