International law firm Holman Fenwick Willan (HFW) has advised Australian private equity house Pacific Road Capital on the English law aspects of its disposal of portfolio company Mantle Diamonds Limited (Mantle).
Mantle is a private UK-based diamond mining and exploration company with projects at varying levels of exploration and development in Botswana, Canada and Finland. Under the terms of the deal, which completed following receipt of Botswana Competition Authority approval, 100% of the shares in Mantle were sold to Kimberley Diamonds Ltd (KDL), a listed mineral resources mining and exploration company headquartered in Sydney, Australia. The shareholders in Mantle received approximately 13.5 million new ordinary KDL shares. Mantle’s majority shareholders, being funds managed or advised by Pacific Road Capital, will now have an overall stake of just over 10% in KDL.
The HFW team was led by Partner Alexis Kyriakoulis and included Senior Associate Spencer Gold and Associates Carolyn Ang and Flora Stewart. Rory Gogarty, HFW’s Pacific Road Capital relationship Partner, also provided specialist input.
Nick Hutton, a Partner at HFW and one of the firm’s mining experts, said: “International mining M&A is a core focus of the firm and we are delighted to have been able to assist Pacific Road Capital on their latest exit, which sees them roll over their interest in Mantle into a significant stake in Kimberley Diamonds”.
