ADVISERS GOLDMAN SACHS
London Mining was advised on the royalty transaction by Goldman Sachs, while Standard Chartered was lead adviser on the debt finance component of the planned expansion of its Marampa mine.
Goldman is no stranger to mining deals, and has a long pedigree of involvement in the sector, including its ongoing role advising Xstrata on its potential merger with the Swiss commodity titan.
As well as advising on mergers, acquisitions and more innovative deals, the American investment bank has also been directly involved in mining ventures. Examples include the $407m purchase of Vale’s Colombian natural resources unit in May, and the $175m deal with EMED Mining to reopen the original Rio Tinto copper mine in Andalucia.
On the BlackRock side, Evy Hambro, who has managed the investment giant’s mining fund for nearly 12 years, spearheaded the deal alongside Graeme Hossie, London Mining’s chief executive and Ben Lee, head of corporate development.
The fund manages over £1.2bn of assets, and has big stakes in Glencore, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.