Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris is set to launch a new investment vehicle to acquire gold mining assets across the world, expanding on the $1.5bn assets he owns in the sector.
The company will look at buying operational gold mines in any jurisdiction, including Latin America and Central Asia, the people said.
The move comes as listed gold miners have underperformed the gold price this decade, leading to calls from investors for new management and better allocation of capital.
While the price of gold has fallen 4 per cent since November 2013, gold equities have lost 10.4 per cent, according to the VanEck Gold Miners exchange-traded fund.
Mr Sawiris made his fortune in the telecoms industry but started his foray into international gold mining through a deal to acquire La Mancha in 2012. He later folded its mines into Toronto-listed Endeavour Mining and Australia-listed Evolution Mining in November 2015.
La Mancha holds 30 per cent of Endeavour and 31 per cent of Evolution. In April Mr Sawiris invested a further $48m into Endeavour through a private placement, bringing La Mancha’s total equity injection to about $190m. The company is developing mines in west Africa and in October successfully constructed its flagship Houndé mine in Burkina Faso.
La Mancha has invested almost $1.5bn in gold miners making it one of the largest private investors in the sector globally, according to Sébastien de Montessus, chief executive of Endeavour. Mr de Montessus told a conference in London on Monday Mr Sawiris “truly believes in the gold sector and it’s a long-term investment”.
“His appetite to continue to develop La Mancha is there given the success of Evolution and what we’re trying to do at Endeavour,” he added.
Source: FT.com
