Clean coal is stockpiled at the Illawarra Complex. (Photo: South32)
A group of banks and investors led by Singapore’s Golden Energy and Resources (GEAR) has secured $850 million to buy South32’s Illawarra metallurgical coal complex in Australia, Reuters reported. A group of five private lenders and a global investment bank will lend $600 million to GEAR M Illawarra. GEAR is mostly owned by the Widjaja family in Indonesia and will hold 70% of the consortium while Australia’s privately held M Resources will own the rest. The funding package reportedly has an additional $150 million in working capital and $100 million in guaranteed credit facilities.
South32 said it received Australian Foreign Investment Review Board approval for the sale of Illawarra to an entity owned by GEAR and M Resources. The company said expected the transaction to be completed in Q1 FY25 (Q3 2024), subject to the receipt of the remaining foreign merger clearances.
