Botswana government has notified the Competition Authority of its desire to acquire additional shares in Morupule Coal Mine Limited (MCM), in a bid to own the only operating coal mine in the country 100%.
“The proposed transaction involves the unbundling of Debswana Diamond Mining (Pty) Ltd’s (“Debswana”) shareholding in MCM,” noted a merger notice on the authorities website
Debswana is a partnership between GRB and De Beers Group and its primary objective is diamond mining and associated processes.
“GRB’s (Botswana government) current indirect beneficial shareholding in MCM will be converted into a direct equity interest and GRB will acquire De Beers’ indirect shareholding in MCM”.
Post-transaction, Botswana government will solely own MCM, and transfer the entire shareholding in MCM to another entity solely owned by Botswana, Minerals Development Company Botswana (Pty) Ltd (MDCB).
MDCB is a wholly owned subsidiary of the government under the Laws of the Republic of Botswana and was established as a special purpose vehicle for this transaction. Post-implementation, MDCB will directly hold all of the issued shares in MCM.
On the other hand, MCM, a wholly owned subsidiary of Debswana is a company incorporated under the Laws of the Republic of Botswana and is situated in the outskirts of Palapye. MCM is engaged in the mining and supplying of coal.