ABN Amro has acted as sole financial advisor to Sterlite Industries (a Vedanta Resources plc company) for the proposed acquisition of Asarco LLC. The acquisition includes substantially all of the operating assets of Asarco, a Tucson, Arizona based copper mining, smelting and refining company.
The $2.6 billion deal is the largest copper resource M&A deal by an Asian company. It is also the largest India outbound M&A deal this year to date and the largest ever purchase of a US asset by an Indian company. Manoj Agarwal, ABN Amro?s head of global corporate finance for India said, ?The proposed deal further underscores our leadership position in Indian cross border M&A deals?.
Commenting on the deal, Madan Menon, MD and head of global banking and markets for ABN Amro in India said, ?Our enlarged global network within ABN Amro and RBS has helped us offer our client seamless execution across India, UK and the US?.
The transaction provides Sterlite, a subsidiary of Vedanta, a London based FTSE 100 metal and mining group with a world class operation producing high quality copper resources. Sterlite is well positioned to benefit from rising copper demand and strong copper prices with the additional operations located in a geopolitically stable market. Vedanta also brings its operational skills and strong balance sheet to further develop and optimize Asarco?s mines and plants.
Sterlite is the announced planned sponsor of the reorganization of Asarco. The agreement, filed with the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, is expected to be sanctioned in June and is subject to formal approval by Asarco?s creditors and claimants.
Last year, ABN Amro was joint financial advisor to Tata Steel for its $13 bn acquisition of Corus, India?s largest outbound M&A deal to date, and was also the financial advisor to Suzlon Energy on its bid to acquire RE Power Systems.