Baker & McKenzie Advises Yanzhou Coal on its Acquisition of Felix Resources Limited
Deal Announcement
January 8, 2010
Hong Kong, 8 January 2010 – Baker & McKenzie recently advised Yanzhou Coal Mining Company Limited (“Yanzhou Coal”) on Hong Kong regulatory and legal aspects of its AUS$3.33 billion acquisition of 100% of the issued share capital in Felix Resources Limited (“Felix Resources”), a company incorporated in Australia and whose shares are listed on ASX. This is one of the largest acquisitions by a PRC company in Australia to date, as well as being the biggest investment in the Australian mining and natural resources sector.
The principle activities of Felix Resources are exploring and extracting coal resources and operating resource related projects that primarily focus on coal in Queensland and New South Wales, including four major operating mines, two coal mines under construction, three exploration programs and an equity interest in a new coal port in Newcastle.
The acquisition has been approved by the shareholders of Yanzhou Coal and Felix Resources, and the relevant PRC and Australian authorities (including the Foreign Investment Review Board). The Federal Court of Australia's sanction of the scheme of arrangement became effective on December 23, 2009.
Yanzhou Coal is primarily engaged in underground coal mining, preparation and processing, sales, and railway transportation of coal. It is organized into three operating divisions: coal mining, coal railway transportation and methanol and electricity power. Yanzhou Coal is listed in Hong Kong, Shanghai and New York and is the only PRC coal mining company listed in all the three places.