Private Equity Lines Up for Coal ‘Bonanza’ Left by Public Miners

Private equity firms are lining up to take on the dirty -- and highly profitable -- assets being divested by publicly traded commodity producers as the world grapples to decarbonize.

In the latest example, private equity accounted for most of the 30 so-called western candidates that signed non-disclosure agreements in the sale of Vale SA’s Mozambique coal business, according to Luciano Siani Pires, head of strategy and business transformation at Rio de Janeiro-based Vale.