Cleary Gottlieb represented Vale S.A. (Vale) in the closing of the approximately $2.5 billion investment by Manara Minerals, a joint venture between Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) and the Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (PIF), pursuant to which Manara Minerals will acquire 10% of Vale Base Metals Limited (VBM), the holding entity for Vale’s energy transition metals business.
The transaction results in the closing of a strategic partnership, first announced in July 2023, that will accelerate value generation from the best-in-class set of assets and projects VBM has across its portfolio, allowing VBM to help advance the global energy transition at a faster pace and at scale across the key critical mineral jurisdictions where it operates. Over the next decade, VBM is expected to invest in new projects across Brazil, Canada, and Indonesia, moving toward a significant increase in copper production from 350kt/year to 900kt/year and in nickel production from 175kt/year to 300kt/year.
Vale is one of the largest metals and mining companies in the world, based on market capitalization, and one of the world’s largest producers of iron ore and nickel.
For more information, please see the press release here.