Iluka Resources £215 million acquisition of Sierra Rutile

Overview:

• Australian based producer Iluka Resources has announced the £215 million acquisition of mining company Sierra Rutile. 
• Sierra Rutile is listed on the AIM stock exchange in London, is incorporated on the British Virgin Islands and operates on the mineral sands of Sierra Leone.
• Owned by Swiss based Pala Investments, Iluka Resources is a global player in the mineral sands industry and announced the acquisition in line with the global commodities cycle.
• The company offered shareholders 36p per Sierra Rutile share. 
• Pursuant to BVI law the acquisition needed the approval of a majority of Sierra Rutile's shareholders.
• The acquisition eventually closed after "an eleventh hour disagreement surrounding tailings dams was resolved", in December 2016, following doubts it would be completed.
• Complications arose when Iluka notified Sierra Rutile in late November that "it was not satisfied with certain geotechnical risks forming part of the latter’s operations in Sierra Leone". 

John Crabb - Journalist 

Additional reporting: Myles McCormick, Industrial Minerals