Saudi’s minority acquisition in Brazil’s Vale is finalized: KSA’s Manara — a recentlyestablished JV between Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and state-owned mining company Ma’aden — will acquire a 10% stake in Brazilian miner Vale’s base metals unit at an enterprise value of USD 26 bn, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul yesterday. The move comes under the kingdom’s bid to play a leading role in the global energy transition supply chains.

The details: The completion of the transaction, which will be financed through Ma’aden’s own resources, is subject to regulatory approval and other customary conditions. It is expected to close in 1Q 2024. The bid by the Saudis beat other bidders vying for the minority stake, which included Japan’s Mitsui & Co and the Qatar Investment Authority, Bloomberg reported last month.

Why is this important? The investment and acquisition will play a key role in helping Manara boost the production of copper and nickel — critical minerals for EV and battery storage production — across its asset portfolio, the statement notes. Vale has projects in key areas for mining energy transition materials including Canada, Brazil and Indonesia, the statement adds.

And that’s not all from Vale: Separately, Vale said it has entered into a binding agreement with US investment firm Engine No. 1 which will see the latter acquire a 3% stake in the energy transition metals business, Vale said in a statement on Thursday.

Where the money is going: The funds will be poured into Vale’s basic metals unit’s USD 25-30 bn capital program over the next decade, according to the statement from Vale. The program will help boost its production capacity from 350 kt/year to 900 kt/year in copper and 175 kt/year to over 300 kt/year for nickel, it added.

Ma’aden has been busy: The Saudi mining giant and US mineral development company Ivanhoe Electric recently finalized setting up an exploration JV in Saudi Arabia. Under transactions announced earlier this year, Ma’aden has poured in USD 127.1 mn in Ivanhoe Electric to snap up a 9.9% stake in the company.

The Saudis are going big with energy transition metals: Saudi Arabia aims to become aglobal hub for green metals critical for the energy transition under efforts to diversify its economy away from oil. This includes significant amounts of uranium and titanium discovered in the country, according to officials. KSA says it has untapped metals and minerals — including copper, zinc, phosphate, and gold — collectively worth USD 1.3 tn.

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