Glencore in $960m deal for DRC mines

Company severs its ties with controversial Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler

GLENCORE has agreed to a $960 million (R12.8 billion) deal that will boost ownership of two giant Congolese cobalt and copper mines, and sever its ties with controversial Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler.

For Glencore, the deal achieves two things: greater control of key assets at a time of booming copper and cobalt prices and a parting of ways from Gertler after his business in the Democratic Republic of Congo and relationship with President Joseph Kabila attracted scrutiny from the US Department of Justice.

Glencore will pay Fleurette Group, a company owned by Gertler’s family trust, $534m cash after all debts are paid, the company said on Monday. The assets include a 31 percent stake in Mutanda Mining, the world’s biggest cobalt mine, and a 10.3 percent holding in Katanga Mining, which operates a nearby copper and cobalt mine.

The deal marks another step in Glencore’s turnaround from the commodities crisis. After selling $10bn in assets and cutting debt, it is returning to deal making as commodity prices quickly rebound.

Copper is at a 20-month high and cobalt, an essential element in lithium-ion batteries, soared 75 percent since the beginning of last year. Competition for cobalt resources is intensifying amid a global boom for electric vehicles. The Mutanda stake is valued at $922m, and the holding in Toronto-listed Katanga is valued at $38m, according to Glencore. The deal increases Glencore’s holding to 86.3 percent in Katanga. Glencore also take over $130m in loans Mutanda owed to Fleurette.

Glencore may have other reasons for buying the mining stakes from Gertler, who is friends with Congo President Joseph Kabila. Cutting ties may protect Glencore from political uncertainty if the president leaves power following planned elections this year. The deal comes four months after the company said it was reviewing bribery allegations said to implicate the billionaire. Gertler denies any wrongdoing and hasn’t been charged.

The allegations are contained in a September deferred-prosecution agreement between hedge fund manager Och-Ziff Capital Management Group and the US Department of Justice. In the agreement, Och-Ziff acknowledges participating in the bribing of Congolese officials. OchZiff’s partner in Congo among others paid more than $100m in bribes over a decade-long period, according to the agreement. That partner is Gertler.

Glencore’s investments in Congo have long been in partnership with Gertler, who provided an enviable line to the top. As the 23-year-old scion of a diamond trading family, Gertler first landed in Congo in 1997, shortly after rebel leader Laurent Kabila toppled the government. Gertler befriended Kabila’s son and army chief Joseph, who took over the reins in 2001, when the older Kabila was assassinated.

After years of trading in rough diamonds, Gertler branched out into copper, cobalt, iron ore and gold, building a business empire worth more than a billion dollars.

“We remain committed to the DRC and will continue to re-invest into the country as we have done for the last 20 years,” Gertler said on Monday.

Some of those mines, including Mutanda, turned the DRC into Africa’s top copper producer, paid billions in taxes and spurred economic growth.