Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised Sandfire Resources NL (“Sandfire”) on the UK-law aspects of its A$167m acquisition of dual ASX and LSE-listed mining company MOD Resources Ltd (“MOD”).
The acquisition, which was effected under an Australian scheme of arrangement, gives Sandfire control over MOD’s 11,700-square-kilometre landholding in Botswana’s Kalahari copper belt, including the near-term production stage T3 project. The transaction also involved the parallel buy-out of MOD’s minority exploration joint venture partner Metal Tiger.
Sandfire is a leading mid-tier Australian mining and exploration company, which has set new benchmarks for the efficient and rapid development of resources in Western Australia. This acquisition marks the debut of its global copper portfolio in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. MOD is an Australian exploration and development company, also focussed on copper mining.
The WFW London Mining and Commodities team that advised Sandfire was led by Global Mining and Commodities Sector Head Jan Mellmann, supported by Associates Jennifer Evans and Alice Everley. Tax advice was provided by Partner Tom Jarvis and Senior Associate David Jacob.
Gilbert + Tobin acted as Sandfire’s lead counsel in Australia.
