Norilsk Nickel provides an update on the status of the sale of its 50% participation interest in the Nkomati JV.
On October 17, 2014 Norilsk Nickel announced that it had entered into a binding agreement for the sale of its African assets to Botswana-based BCL Investments, which was controlled by the government of Botswana. All of the conditions precedent to the transaction were duly fulfilled. In particular, in September the last remaining condition precedent was fulfilled when the company obtained the consent of the South Africa Department of Mineral Resources to proceed with the sale of the 50% interest in the Nkomati JV.
The company provided the buyer with additional time to close the transaction; however, BCL Investments made no effort to fulfill its obligations. On October 8, the company learned from the media that BCL had been put into provisional liquidation.
Following these developments the company has decided to defend its interests under the transaction in courts with jurisdiction over the matter. (Nornickel/Ukrainian metal)