【英语财经】洛阳钼业正寻求更多收购机会 China ventureseeks western assets in $4bn quest for acquisitions

The Chinese miner that is paying $1.5bn for a group of Anglo American

mines is on the hunt for more deals, believing the time is right to pluck prime assets from struggling western rivals.

China Molybdenum

said it had more than $4bn available to acquire assets as it looks to expand its international business further after last week’s agreement to buy Brazilian niobium and phosphate mines from Anglo.

In an interview with the Financial Times, two of CMOC’s senior executives said the company had been “patient” in pursuing deals but believed the time was right in the commodities cycle to expand.

“We consider this to be the bottom of the cycle,” said Steele Li, executive chairman of CMOC.

The deal by CMOC is the largest in mining by a Chinese company this year and comes as some miners’ urgent need to improve their balance sheets may compel them to sell assets they would otherwise keep. Anglo, which sold the Brazilian mines as part of a widespread restructuring, is using the proceeds to pay down debt.

“Our strategy is to be ready,” said

Kalidas Madhavpeddi, chief executive of CMOC International, who said the group was looking to buy high-quality assets “from people who do not want to sell them”.

“There have been others that we have passed on when we felt that the time was not right or when they were not tier one?.?.?.?we have been patient,” he said.

CMOC, which is listed in Shanghai and Hong Kong and has two large shareholders who together own 63 per cent of the company’s equity, already owns one of the world’s largest molybdenum and tungsten mines in China.

以15亿美元的价格收购英美资源集团(Anglo American)矿业资产的中国采矿企业洛阳钼业(China Molybdenum)，正在寻求更多收购机会。该公司认为，现在正是从陷入困境的西方竞争对手那里攫取优质资产的正确时机。

洛阳钼业准备继上周达成从英美资源集团手中收购其位于巴西的铌和磷酸盐矿的协议后，进一步扩大国际业务。该公司表示，它现有逾40亿美元资金用于资产收购。

在接受英国《金融时报》采访时，洛阳钼业的两名高管表示，该公司在推进收购交易方面一直“很耐心”，但他们相信，现在的大宗商品周期适合扩张。

洛阳钼业董事长李朝春(Steele Li)说：“我们认为，现在正是周期的底部。”

洛阳钼业上周达成的交易是中国企业今年在采矿领域达成的最大一笔交易，当前正值一些西方矿业公司迫切需要改善资产负债表，使他们不得不出售一些本想保留的资产。出售位于巴西的矿山是英美资源集团整体重组的一部分，该集团将利用所得进款偿还债务。

“我们的策略是做好准备，”洛阳钼业海外事业部首席执行官卡利达斯?马达佩蒂(Kalidas Madhavpeddi)表示。他说，该集团正寻求“从那些不想出售资产的人”手里收购优质资产。

他说：“当我们觉得时机不对，或者它们不是一流资产时，我们放弃了一些交易……我们一直很有耐心。”

洛阳钼业在上海和香港上市，两大股东共拥有公司63%的股份。该公司在中国的钼和钨矿为全球最大同类矿产之一。

译者/何黎