China’s Jiangxi to buy copper miner SolGold in $1bn deal

China’s Jiangxi Copper Co has agreed to buy copper miner SolGold Plc in a deal that values the company at little over $1 billion.

After two previous bids were rejected, SolGold accepted the Chinese firm’s latest offer of 28 pence a share in cash for the stock it doesn’t already own, the Australian miner said in a statement last week.

Read: Copper rises to record on bullish Citi outlook, supply concerns

That values the company at as much as £867 million ($1.17 billion), including shares that may yet be issued, SolGold said. The offer represents a 43% premium to SolGold’s share price before the first bid last month, it added.

The deal comes amid a surge in interest in copper mines with the metal trading at a record high.

Many in the industry are forecasting a shortage of the metal as the global economy electrifies, leading to a series of approaches among big miners, including a failed bid by BHP for Anglo American Plc.

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SolGold was once seen as a prime takeover target for major Western miners, including BHP Group and Newmont Corp, which are some of its biggest shareholders. Yet a series of disputes around how the planned Cascabel mine in Ecuador would be funded and the project’s downsizing saw that interest cool.

Jiangxi is already the largest shareholder, with little more than 12%. BHP and Newmont — which each own more than 10% of SolGold — have said they support the current bid, according to SolGold. Other investors, such as Maxit Capital LP, are also backing the offer, it added.

As well as the Cascabel project, SolGold holds large swathes of exploration permits in Ecuador.

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