Manara Minerals Investment Company, a joint venture between Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) and the Public Investment Fund has signed a binding agreement to acquire a 10 per cent stake in Brazil's base metals company Vale as the company continues to pursue global mining investments.
The company is buying the stake in Vale, which has projects in Canada, Brazil and Indonesia, based on an enterprise value of $26 billion, Ma’aden said on Sunday in a statement to Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul stock exchange, where its shares are traded.
“Manara’s investment into Vale will play a key role in helping it expand the production of copper and nickel across its asset portfolio, which are critical to the development of new technologies that will benefit the global energy transition,” the company said.
“The acquisition furthers Ma’aden’s strategy of increasing the supply of strategic minerals and enabling Saudi Arabia to play a growing role in the global energy transition supply chains.”
The deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2024.
Ma’aden, which operates several extraction sites and mines in Saudi Arabia to produce gold, copper, iron ore and strategic minerals, has a 51 per cent stake in Manara, while the PIF holds a 49 per cent interest.
Mining is a key component of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan, which aims to reduce the country's dependence on oil and gas revenue. The kingdom, Opec’s top oil exporter, aims to more than triple the mining sector’s contribution to the nation’s economic output by 2030.
One of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, the PIF, which is at the heart of Riyadh’s economic diversification efforts, is a major driver of the domestic economy. It holds stakes in some of the kingdom’s biggest conglomerates and financial institutions.
Under a five-year strategy announced in 2021, the PIF aims to more than double the value of its assets under management to $1.07 trillion and commit $40 billion annually to develop Saudi Arabia's economy until 2025.
Globally, it holds stakes in public and private companies including Meta and Alphabet. The fund has set up more than 30 new companies and tripled its assets in the past few years.
The latest transaction will be financed through Ma’aden's own resources and any financial impact of the acquisition is expected to be reflected in the first half of 2024, according to the company.
Last month, Ma’aden said it would be increasing its share capital by 12.3 billion Saudi riyals ($3.2 billion) to strengthen its capital base to boost growth.
In May, it also signed an agreement with Vancouver's Ivanhoe Electric to purchase a 9.9 per cent stake in the company for $126.5 million.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.
There is no fund manager deciding which stocks and other assets to invest in, instead they passively track their chosen index, country, region or commodity, regardless of whether it goes up or down.
The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash.
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F1 line ups in 2018
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Essentials
The flights: You can fly from the UAE to Iceland with one stop in Europe with a variety of airlines. Return flights with Emirates from Dubai to Stockholm, then Icelandair to Reykjavik, cost from Dh4,153 return. The whole trip takes 11 hours. British Airways flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Reykjavik, via London, with return flights taking 12 hours and costing from Dh2,490 return, including taxes.
The activities: A half-day Silfra snorkelling trip costs 14,990 Icelandic kronur (Dh544) with Dive.is. Inside the Volcano also takes half a day and costs 42,000 kronur (Dh1,524). The Jokulsarlon small-boat cruise lasts about an hour and costs 9,800 kronur (Dh356). Into the Glacier costs 19,500 kronur (Dh708). It lasts three to four hours.
The tours: It’s often better to book a tailor-made trip through a specialist operator. UK-based Discover the World offers seven nights, self-driving, across the island from £892 (Dh4,505) per person. This includes three nights’ accommodation at Hotel Husafell near Into the Glacier, two nights at Hotel Ranga and two nights at the Icelandair Hotel Klaustur. It includes car rental, plus an iPad with itinerary and tourist information pre-loaded onto it, while activities can be booked as optional extras. More information inspiredbyiceland.com
