Investment advisor Appian Capital Advisory has completed the sale of Mineração Vale Verde (MVV), a mining company based in Brazil, to China-based Baiyin Nonferrous for an all-cash offer of $420m (3.06bn yuan).
MVV owns the Serrote greenfield open-pit copper-gold asset in Alagoas, Brazil.
The sale includes the complete equity of MVV on a cash-free, debt-free basis.
Appian is providing operational support to Baiyin Nonferrous during the asset transition.
This transaction underscores Appian’s proficiency in enhancing value for its investors by advancing MVV into production and establishing a profitable mid-scale copper-gold open-pit mining operation from greenfield status, according to the company.
The sale of MVV represents Appian’s 13th successful exit.
Appian Founder and CEO Michael W. Scherb said: “This transaction further validates Appian’s ability to identify great overlooked assets and use our in-house technical expertise to realise their potential and optimise their value for our investors. It underlines the strategic positioning of Appian’s portfolio to support the growing demand for a reliable supply of high-quality critical minerals.”
Financial advisory services for the deal were provided by Standard Chartered and Citigroup, while Norton Rose Fulbright served as the legal advisor to Appian.
Since acquiring MVV in 2018 from Aura Mineral with only ten employees, Appian has transformed the company, which now has more than 1,050 employees.
Appian’s strategic acquisition and optimisation of MVV involved revising the Serrote project’s definitive feasibility study and implementing cost-effective changes. This resulted in reduced capital expenditures and operating costs.
The company also secured a $140m financing facility from three international banks and signed offtake agreements with global traders and smelters.
Serrote began production in May 2021 and has a safety record of zero lost time incidents over the past three years.
In 2024, the mine produced 18,300 tonnes (t) of copper and 8,200oz of gold, generating EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) of $83.9m (477.69m reais) from revenues of $184.4m.
In a separate development, Appian Capital Advisory announced plans to acquire a majority stake in the Rosh Pinah Solar Park from Emesco Energy to supply clean energy to Rosh Pinah Zinc’s mine in Namibia.
