Rebels throw out takeover plotted by ‘mining king’

IAN HANNAM, the City dealmaker who was fined for market abuse three years ago, has suffered a setback at his new corporate advisory firm after a takeover it had engineered was scuppered by rebel shareholders.

Hannam & Partners, set up by the so-called ‘King of Mining’ after his £450,000 fine by the financial watchdog, is understood to have been instrumental in driving the £32 million takeover of Australian miner Crusader Resources by Stratex, the listed gold miner it advises.

Stratex, which counts FTSE 100 miner Antofagasta as a shareholder, wanted to buy Crusader to expand into production, after years of struggling as an explorer.

However, shareholders of Stratex – backed by South African gold mining giant Anglo Gold Ashanti and Canada’s largest miner Teck Resources – voted against the deal and ousted the chief executive.

Marcus Engelbrecht, a former BHP Billiton veteran, chose to step down as chief executive after he was voted off the board. This was despite backing for the deal from Institutional Shareholder Services, the corporate governance firm.

Stratex, which has projects in Africa and Turkey, parachuted in former chief executive Bob Foster to take the reins again.

It is a blow for Hannam’s new firm, which has been expanding its client list of mining and oil firms.

Known for his dealmaking, Hannam has helped mastermind some of the biggest takeovers in the industry, including Glencore’s £50 billion merger with Xstrata.

However, the former Territorial Army captain was fined by the Financial Services Authority in 2012 for giving insider information on Heritage Oil to Kurdistan’s oil minister. He resigned from JP Morgan shortly afterwards to fight the fine before setting up Hannam & Partners.