Business
Indian jewellery maker to buy Australian gold assets
Melbourne, April 2
A leading Indian jewellery
maker, Rajesh Mehta, wants to deepen his relationship with Australia's
gold industry by buying stakes in Australian mines and potentially
opening retail jewellery stores in the country, media reported on
Thursday.
Speaking during a visit to Melbourne, Mehta said his
company wanted to spend up to $700 million growing its presence in
Australia, with mines the primary focus, according to the Melbourne Age.
"We
have been importing gold from Australia on and off in the past, but now
we want to have a formal presence in Australia," he said.
"We
are setting up a subsidiary in Melbourne primarily to look into
acquiring interests into the gold sector of Australia, looking at gold
mining assets in terms of equity or loan or whatever is feasible for us
so we can ensure a reliable and permanent gold supply-line to our
company.
"We would also like to invest in the retail jewellery
sector in Australia -- that is, take the gold from here, process it in
India and then supply the jewellery back here in the retail line that we
set up here."
The Bangalore billionaire's company, Rajesh
Exports, is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange with a market
capitalisation of Rs.58 billion ($1.22 billion), and is
vertically-integrated through the mining, refining, manufacturing and
retailing stages of the gold industry.
The company consumes about
140 tonnes of gold a year, making it one of the world's biggest private
sector buyers of gold, and sells its products through more than 80
retail stores in India plus exports to other countries.
Mehta would not name the Australian mines nor companies that he was looking at, but said talks with advisors had begun.
"We
have met a lot of investment bankers here and we are evaluating the
best way to get in, what is the best way to do it, as we are looking at
not only taking interest in the gold mining sector but we are also
looking at forging a relationship with the largest gold-producing mines
to buy and ensure supply from them," he said. "We can be a good
consuming partner for them."
The comments follow recent momentum
towards a free trade agreement between Australia and India, and last
year's visit to Australia by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.