King & Wood Mallesons and DLA Piper have advised the two stakeholders of Cathay Fortune Investment Limited (CFI) on its recent A$830 million ($857 million) offer to acquire all the remaining ordinary shares in Botswana copper company Discovery Metals.
Discovery Metals is being advised by, GRT Lawyers, while SNR Denton is acting for China Development Bank, which will provide a term loan facility to fund this transaction.
CFI, a joint venture between private equity firm Cathay Fortune Corporation (CFC) and China-Africa Development Fund (CADF), currently owns 13.7 percent of Discovery Metal, a copper exploration and production company based in the Kalahari Copperbelt in northwest Botswana and listed in both Botswana and Australia.
The KMW team, acting for CFC in the deal, is being led by partner Stephen Minns, together with Jin Xiong in Beijing, David Lam in Hong Kong and Alex Regan in Sydney.
“This is a particularly exciting deal for us because it represents a combined effort across our PRC, Hong Kong, and Australia practices. It was originated in Beijing, with acquisition financing being run out of Hong Kong and the takeover in Australia. This is a great example of what the combination between King & Wood and Mallesons can achieve,” said Minns in a statement.
“With Discovery Mineral’s assets and secondary listing in Botswana, it also gives us an opportunity to show case our broader international counsel capability,” he added.
The central planning body of China has already provided permission, while more approvals are expected from other departments within the Chinese and Australian government. Approval has also been sought from Botswana authorities.
Liu Zhen is China senior journalist at ALB. Follow us on Twitter: @ALB_Magazine.
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