Atlas buys out Singapore-based partners in Carmen Copper

ATLAS CONSOLIDATED Mining and Development Corp. yesterday said it would buy out its Singapore-based partners in Carmen Copper Corp. for $368 million to fully own the unlisted operator of the Toledo mine in central Cebu.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Atlas said it would raise $390 million through a combination of debt and equity securities issuances to finance the acquisition of the combined 45.54-percent stake of Casop Atlas Corp. and Casop Atlas B.V. in CCC.

Part of the funds to be raised would be used as general working capital of CCC, which holds exclusive rights over mineral reserves in the 1,674-hectare Toledo copper mine complex.

Atlas said the acquisition of the shares, which would make it 100-percent owner of CCC, was already approved by its board.  Both Casop Atlas Corp. and Casop Atlas B.V. are units of Crescent Asia Special Opportunities Portfolio (Casop) of Singapore.

In connection with the capital raising, Atlas’ board of directors appointed BDO Capital and Investment Corp. and Evercore Partners as financial advisers and arrangers.

The structure of the capital raising, however, will be determined next week. Also, the details of the acquisition and capital raising will be explained to Atlas stakeholders in a briefing next week.

Atlas also said the PSE had granted its request for suspension of the trading of its shares from Friday until June 27.

The stock gained more than 18 percent this week, and hit a four-year high of P20.15 on Thursday.

The trading suspension will enable Atlas to provide its shareholders and the investing public with equal opportunity to examine the details of the transaction.

In the first quarter of 2011, Atlas reported that its consolidated net income grew 5.7 times, driven mainly by the performance of CCC. Its consolidated profit rose to P1.338 billion from P233 million in the comparative period in 2010.

CCC reported a net income of P1.372 billion in the first quarter of 2011, which Atlas said was nearly 5.3 times the net income reported in the same period last year. With a report from Reuters