Chinese Miner Jinchuan International Mulling Going Private

(Bloomberg) -- The state-owned parent of Chinese metals miner Jinchuan Group International Resources Co. is planning to take the Hong Kong-listed company private, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Majority shareholder Jinchuan Group, controlled by the government of Gansu province, aims to relist the assets on one of the mainland bourses, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. 

Jinchuan Group is negotiating with other government-backed shareholders and with lenders to help finance the prospective buyout, according to one of the people. Deliberations are ongoing and there’s no certainty they will result in a deal, the people said.

A representative for Jinchuan Group declined to comment. In a filing Thursday, Jinchuan International said it isn’t aware of such a proposal.

Jinchuan International shares rose as much as 5% for the third day in Hong Kong. They gained 2.5% as of 10:16 a.m. local time on Thursday, giving the company a market capitalization of almost $2 billion. The company has a public float of about 23.7%, valuing the stake at about $471 million, according to Bloomberg calculations.

Jinchuan International is the parent group’s flagship that undertakes overseas mining operations, according to its website. It operates three mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia. The group produces nickel, cobalt, copper and platinum, the website shows.

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., the world’s biggest maker of batteries for electric vehicles, was considering buying a stake in Jinchuan International to help secure supplies of key metals, Bloomberg News reported in August. Jinchuan said it had held preliminary talks with “independent third parties.” CATL denied any intention of acquiring a stake, but declined to comment on whether it was engaged in the discussions.

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With assistance from Bloomberg