Hong Kong-listed Up Energy Development Group Ltd. told Reuters that it has already inked a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Marubeni for the sale of its 40% share in the property and said that Marubeni is ready to accept a single dollar for the stake.
Neither party has revealed any other financial terms, according to Reuters, though Up Energy reportedly noted that the seller has the right to buy back a 15.78% stake within three years.
Marubeni currently owns 39.996% of the Grande Cache mine. It and Winsway, which owns the balance of Grande Cache, paid about $1 billion for the mine under a joint venture; the transaction closed just months after former owner Grande Cache Coal confirmed the all-cash deal in late October 2011.
“Marubeni has had a long standing business relationship with the corporation and has a 40-year history with the corporation’s mine. Furthermore, Winsway is one of our main customers for the Chinese market,” GCC officials said at the time.
Financially, the sale should be one Marubeni can bounce back from; a spokesperson told Reuters that the company’s forecast for net profit for the year ending next March stands at $2 billion, or 220 billion yen.
“The asset is set to be sold for close to nothing by Marubeni and, while it will cause them to book a loss, they will be able to absorb it,” an anonymous Tokyo-based analyst told Reuters.
