Allens has advised Rio Tinto on the recently announced series of divestments of its coal assets in Queensland for US$4.15 billion.
The transactions comprise binding agreements to sell Rio Tinto's interests in the Hail Creek coal mine and Valeria coal development to Glencore for US$1.7 billion, its interest in the Winchester South coal development project to Whitehaven Coal for US$200 million, and its interest in the Kestrel underground coal mine to a consortium comprising EMR Capital and PT Adaro Energy for US$2.25 billion.
Allens advised on all aspects of the transactions, with a multidisciplinary team drawing on expertise in resources, mergers & acquisitions, competition law and banking & finance, as well as the firm's a+ suite of alternative legal services.
'We are extremely pleased to have assisted Rio Tinto in achieving such excellent results in the sale of its Queensland coal assets,' said Richard Malcolmson , lead partner on the transactions.
'We are looking forward to continuing to advise as each sale progresses to completion later this year.'
The sales represent the final steps in a staged sell-down of Rio Tinto's Australian coal assets. Allens also advised on Rio Tinto's sale of Coal & Allied Industries to Yancoal Australia for US$2.69 billion in 2017, the sale of its interests in the Bengalla mine and Mount Pleasant thermal coal assets in New South Wales to New Hope Corporation and MACH Energy for US$616 million and US$221 million respectively in 2016, and the sale of its interest in the Clermont coal mine in Queensland to Glencore and Sumitomo Corporation for US$1.015 billion in 2014.
Allens also advised on the reorganisation of the ownership structure of Coal & Allied Industries between Rio Tinto and Mitsubishi Development in 2016, which helped enable the New South Wales sales.
Allens has a long and proud history of working with Rio Tinto. Since 2013, the firm has advised Rio Tinto on more than US$9 billion of divestments in Australia.
Allens legal team
Richard Malcolmson (lead Partner), John Hedge (Partner), Michael Ryan (Partner), Richard Kriedemann (Partner), Michael Ilott (Partner), Tracey Davern (Senior Associate), Steven Local (Managing Associate), Glenys Hodges (Special Counsel), Ollie L'Estrange (Lawyer), Maggie Shelton (Lawyer), Amy Detheridge (Lawyer), Katherine McNamara (Lawyer), Pavel Zorin (Applied Legal Technology Senior Consultant), Christopher de Waas (Applied Legal Technology Project Analyst), Andrew Chiang (Applied Legal Technology Analyst)
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Notes for editors.
Allens is a commercial law firm working throughout Australia and Asia. Through its integrated alliance with Linklaters it provides clients access to 40 offices in 28 countries around the world.