Brazil Miner MMX: No Deals Yet For Sale Of Iron Ore Assets
04 Agosto 2010 - 6:25PM
Dow Jones News
Brazilian mining and metals company MMX Mineracao e Metalicos SA
(MMXM3.BR) said Wednesday the company has not reached any deals to
sell its iron ore assets.
In a regulatory filing, MMX acknowledged that it was closely
watching the current wave of consolidation in the mining sector for
opportunities.
MMX "remains attentive to the consolidation movement the
business segment is currently passing through and believes that
this movement could generate important business opportunities for
the company."
The company said that it regularly maintained "understandings"
with other companies and financial institutions, but that "at the
present time, no negotiations related to the sale of MMX's iron ore
mining assets had been completed."
The statement followed intense speculation that MMX, a key part
of Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista's empire, could be sold to
generate cash for investments in Batista's OGX Petroleo e Gas
Participacoes SA (OGXP3.BR, OGXPY).
On Tuesday, ArcelorMittal Serra Azul Director-President
Sebastiao Costa Filho told Dow Jones Newswires that the world's
biggest steelmaker was in talks to purchase some assets from MMX.
ArcelorMittal Serra Azul is the ArcelorMittal's (MT) Brazil-based
iron ore unit.
"We'll be having a meeting on Friday in ArcelorMittal's merger
and acquisitions department in London to deal with this matter,"
Costa Filho said.
Other interested parties may include Brazilian steelmaker Usinas
Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA (USNZY, USIM5.BR), or Usiminas;
China's Wuhan Iron & Steel Co. (600005.SH) and U.S. mining
company Cliff Natural Resources Inc (CLF).
Analysts estimate that MMX mine and related assets in Brazil and
Chile may be worth as much as 8.03 billion Brazilian reals ($4.57
billion), or about BRL17 a share.
MMX shares traded 6.1% higher at BRL13.47 per share as of 1545
GMT on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange. The broader market as measured
by the Ibovespa stocks index was 0.1% lower at 67963 points.
-By Jeff Fick, Dow Jones Newswires; 55-21-2586-6085;
jeff.fick@dowjones.com
(Diana Kinch contributed to this report.)
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