The Luxembourg-based La Mancha Fund has announced an investment of $100m through one of its arms in support of ACG Electric Metals’ acquisition of the Atlantic Nickel and Mineraçao Vale Verde mines in Brazil.
ACG Electric Metals will acquire the Atlantic Nickel Sulphide mine in Santa Rita and the Mineraçao Vale Verde copper mine in Sirot on a cash and debt-free basis, for $1b.
Both mines are in production and are ranked in the top ten for carbon emissions among all nickel and copper producers worldwide.
The assets of the miners are low-cost and long-lived providing a solid foundation to build a regional mid-asset product, in line with the long-term strategy previously published by La Mancha.
Vincent Benoit, partner and co-chief investment officer of La Mancha Resources, said the $100m investment in the copper-nickel mine production portfolio in Brazil is another important step towards achieving the fund’s goal of diversifying the portfolio geographically, at different stages of production.
Global miner Glencore and Chrysler parent group Stellantis and Volkswagen’s battery unit have agreed to back a $1bn deal through ACG Acquisition Company to buy the two miners in Brazil.
After the purchase, the nickel concentrate will be refined at Glencore’s facilities in Western Europe and North America, with the final product integrated into electric vehicle batteries by Stellantis, Powerco and other manufacturers, the statement said.
In the process, ACG will become ACG Electric Metals and issue new shares, making Glencore, Stellantis and La Mancha 51 percent owners, and leaving 49 percent free float, ACG CEO Artem Volinets told Reuters.
La Mancha Holding Company announced in July 2021 the creation of the La Mancha Fund SCSp, a long-term investment fund based in Luxembourg, and La Mancha Capital Advisory LLP (LMCA) will be the advisory office for the fund.
The company said at the time that it had completed the first closing of the fund by receiving all the gold mining assets of La Mancha, in addition to an investment of $100m from a strategic partner who will invest alongside the Sawiris family.
The fund’s primary investment objective is to create investment resources for the gold and precious metals mining sector, and it will also have the flexibility to invest in electric vehicle battery minerals.
