JAKARTA (TheInsiderStories) - Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation has agreed to transfer all its shares (30.0 percent) in Strand Minerals Indonesia) Pte Ltd to French’s ERAMET SA. Strand owns 90.0 percent of PT Weda Bay Nickel, the entity undertaking the development of the Weda Bay Nickel Project in Indonesia.
Eramet now holds 66.6 percent of Strand Minerals and will be the sole owner after the deal. The Weda Bay project was previously put on hold due to the downturn in the nickel market.
Mitsubishi has been carrying out a feasibility study since joining the project in February 2009 and has decided to sell all its shares to ERAMET, in accordance with the shareholders’ agreement, because the criteria for project development have not been met.
Mitsubishi, which spent $145 million in 2009 for a 33.4 percent stake in Strand, is exiting Weda Bay as a feasibility study showed the project did not meet its requirements. The deal will have no impact on Mitsubishi’s earnings for the year ended March 31 as it had written down most of its asset value, he said.
ERAMET is a producer of metal alloys, particularly manganese and nickel, which are used to improve the properties of steel, and also of high-performance special steels and alloys for the aerospace, power generation, tooling, and other industries.
ERAMET is listed on the Euronext Paris and employs approximately 14,000 people in 20 countries.
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