China Bearing to buy Indonesia nickel ore mine through reverse takeover

CHINA Bearing, which became a cash company after disposing of its operating subsidiary in December last year, is acquiring an Indonesian nickel ore mine via a reverse takeover.

In an exchange filing on Tuesday, the group said that it will pay up to US$120 million through the issuance of new shares to the vendor Far East Mining Pte Ltd.

Far East Mining fully owns PT Teknik Alum Service, which holds the concession rights to a 1,301-hectare nickel ore mine in Morowali, Sulawesi Tengah, in Indonesia.

China Bearing has also agreed to pay to Strategic Advisory & Capital Limited a fee of US$2 million for introducing the vendor and the target company to the firm. A quarter of this will be paid in cash, and the remaining will be satisfied through the issuance of 2.8 million new shares at 72.5 Singapore cents per share.

Upon the allotment and issuance of these shares, Far East Mining will hold 93.1 million shares, or 75.4 per cent of the enlarged share capital of the company.

Once the acquisition is completed, China Bearing intends to transfer from the mainboard to the Catalist board.