ENRC Holders Back $550 Million Deal to Buy Gertler Congo Assets

Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) shareholders backed a $550 million deal to buy out Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler from a company holding interests in copper and cobalt licenses in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Shareholders at a London meeting today voted 99.2 percent in favor of the cash bid for 49.5 percent of Camrose Resources Ltd., which is indirectly owned by a Gertler family trust, the company said in a statement.

ENRC, which produces ferroalloys and iron ore as well as copper, bought its 50.5 percent stake in Camrose from Gertler, 39, for $175 million in 2010. ENRC said Dec. 7. that the latest deal will simplify its structure and create cost savings across its operations in the region. The Camrose assets produce about 100,000 metric tons of copper annually and estimated 2013 capital expenditure is about $300 million.

Camrose lost $14.8 million in the six months through June 30 and had gross assets of $326 million at that date, according to ENRC. Camrose holds about 64 percent of Vancouver-based mining company Africo Resources Ltd. (ARL), according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Biesheuvel in London at tbiesheuvel@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Viljoen at jviljoen@bloomberg.net