* Noble deal involves Donaldson Coal – source/report
* Gloucester says planning capital raising/acquisitions
(Adds detail)
By Michael Smith
SYDNEY, May 9 (Reuters) – Hong Kong-based commodities firm
Noble Group is nearing a deal to sell stakes in some
Australian coal assets to its majority-owned Australian coal
miner Gloucester Coal , sources said Monday.
Noble Group has been expected to sell its 100 percent-owned
Donaldson Coal Pty Ltd, which has coal mines in the Hunter
Valley in New South Wales state, to Gloucester, according to
local media and analysts.
“There have been some pretty tough negotiations (between
Noble and Gloucester),” a source familiar with the transaction
said, confirming a deal was close but declining to give details.
Gloucester shares were placed in a trading halt earlier on
Monday ahead of an announcement about two acquisitions and a
capital raising.
A second source said one of the expected transactions
involved Donaldson Coal.
Donaldson’s former chief executive Brendan McPherson was
made Gloucester’s chief executive in February. Gloucester
chairman James MacKenzie has also been a director of Donaldson
Coal.
Analysts expect Noble’s 65.3 percent stake in Gloucester
will be diluted through a capital raising.
Gloucester may raise between A$400 million ($427.5
million)and A$500 million to fund a deal, the Australian
Financial Review said in an unsourced report on its website
earlier on Monday.
Noble last year sold its stake in the Middlemount mine in
central Queensland to Gloucester. Gloucester owns the mine in a
joint venture with Macarthur Coal .
Gloucester had been expected to raise additional funds in
the next six months to cover capital commitments at Middlemount
and a A$45 million payment to exercise its option to increase
its stake in Middlemount to 50 percent, UBS said in a recent
report.
Donaldson Coal is also a foundation investor in Newcastle
Coal Infrastructure Group (NCIG), the consortium responsible for
the construction and operation of the Port of Newcastle’s third
coal export terminal.
Richard Elman, who founded Noble Group, was appointed
executive chairman of the group in March. Singapore-listed Noble
has interests from Brazilian sugar to Australian coal and is the
only major global commodity trading house with a public listing.
Gloucester was set to be taken over by Macarthur Coal last
year before Macarthur became the target of a bidding war
involving U.S. Miner Peabody Energy Corp , Australia’s
New Hope Corp and Noble Group.
Noble backed away from the plan to sell its stake in
Gloucester to Macarthur and instead went ahead with an offer to
buy out the 12 percent of Gloucester it did not already own.
A Noble spokesman declined to comment.
($1 = 0.936 Australian Dollars)
(Reporting by Michael Smith; Editing by Ed Davies)