International Consortium Buys Colombia’s State Coal Company
A consortium comprising Anglo American Coal Corp. of South Africa, Billiton of Britain and Swiss-based Glencore International bid $383.7 million in cash to buy Colombia’s state coal company, Carbocol. It also will assume $70 million in short-term debt.
Colombia’s Mining and Energy Ministry said the three companies bought Carbocol’s 50% share in the world’s largest open-pit coal mine, Cerrejon Zona Norte, on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. The three already jointly operate Cerrejon Zona Central, which is adjacent to the Zona Norte mine, in which Exxon Mobil Corp. also has a half share.
The sale is the first privatization completed in Colombia since August 1998, the ministry said in a statement.
Carbocol is the only state asset the government has been able to sell this year. Colombia has repeatedly put back or canceled sales of other assets because of guerrilla attacks, legal hurdles or lukewarm interest. The government had been counting on at least one big asset sale this year to finance the budget deficit and keep the peso steady after having fallen 19% this year.
Under the deal, Colombia will assume Carbocol’s $1.1 billion in long-term debt, said Nelson Rodolfo Amaya, president of Carbocol.
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