Bengaluru firm buys out Swiss gold refinery for $400 mn

Bengaluru, July 27
City-based Rajesh Exports Ltd on Monday announced acquiring Swiss gold refinery Valcambi for Rs.2,569 crore ($400 million) in all cash deal from Newsmont and a group of investors.

"We have raised 70 percent of the fund for acquisition by our Singapore-based subsidiary through internal accruals and 30 percent from debt," Rajesh Exports chairman Rajesh Mehta told IANS here.

Touted to be the world's largest yellow metal refining firm, the five-decades-old Valcambi processed and sold 945 tonnes of gold and 325 tonnes of silver per annum over the last three years.

It generated $38 billion revenue and $33 million Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and ammortisation in calendar year 2014.

"The acquisition makes us the country's largest gold processing and refining firm with a combined production capacity of 2,200 tonnes per annum, including 1,255 tonnes in our Bengaluru units," Mehta said.

Post-acquisition, Rajesh Exports will manage Valcambi, owned by Newsmont Mining Corporation and a group of Swiss investors over the last 50 years.

"Synergies between our two entities will increase our revenues and profits and the acquisition will be EPS (earnings per share) accretive," Mehta said.

Accredited to the London Bullion Market Association, Valcambi's gold bars are accepted for its quality in leading commodity exchanges in Chicago, New York, Tokyo, Dubai and Mumbai.

"Valcambi is a zero debt firm with significant cash surplus on its balance sheet," Mehta added.

Newmont is one of the world's biggest gold and copper mining firm and is a part of the Standard & Poor (S&P) 500 Index on New York stock exchange.

Valcambi chief executive Michael Mesaric, an authority in gold industry, and its management will be part of Rajesh Exports, which will become an integrated player in gold refining and jewellery-making.

"More than the price of sale, my aim was to deliver the firm to a buyer who would maintain Valcambi's world class standard and stature," Volcambi founder Emilio Camponovo said in a statement from Geneva.

Mesaric said the combined entity would improve its global share of gold business by opening new markets in India, the Gulf region and China.

"We will focus on forward integration and innovative products in the European markets by using the domain expertise of Rajesh Exports," he said.

Mehta said Valcambi's the acquisition would make India not only the largest gold consumer, but also a leading producer of the yellow metal to meet the growing requirement of the country in the sub-continent.