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- Nikanor plc was a publicly quoted holding company for Global Enterprises Corporate (GEC) with assets in the rich Copperbelt region in Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Nikanor plc was incorporated in 2006 with its registered head office in Douglas, Isle of Man. Nikanor's stock was listed on the London Stock Exchange's (LSE) Alternative Investment Market in London in July 2006. The initial public offering (IPO) raised US$400 million, and Nikanor's market capitalization reached $1.5 billion. The senior management team of Nikanor included Emile Mota and Simon Tuma-Waku, who were the chief of staff and Minister of Mines and Energy under DRC President Joseph Kabila. According to Mining Journal, Kabila promulgated the new mining code in 2002. In May 2007, Beny Steinmetz, Dan Gertler and the Gertler Group, Nikanor's three main stakeholders, launched a hostile take over bid for Nikanor. The bid valued Nikanor's shares at £6.00, the price when it floated, and was presented by the Cosaf Ltd consortium(which also includes the Swiss trader and Gertler's long-time associate, Glencore International AG and UK equity fund, Partners). The bid was opposed by those shareholders in Nikanor not involved in the bid. In January 2008, Nikanor was merged into Katanga Mining Limited. Katanga Mining Company (KMC) paid $452 million to Nikanor shareholders. Nikanor planned on participating in the consolidation of the companies operating in the Zambian–DRC Copperbelt region. In a 2011 article by Reuters, journalists described how Glencore and Dan Gertler partnered in Nikanor from 2007 until its final merger with Katanga Mining. In June 2007, Glencore and partner Dan Gertler, an Israeli mining magnate, paid GB£300 million pounds for a quarter-stake in mining company Nikanor, which was seeking to revive derelict copper mines next to Katanga's. That deal gave Glencore exclusive rights to sell all Nikanor's output – an "offtake" agreement [...] By investing in Nikanor, Glencore consolidated a powerful partnership [...] linked to Gertler, an old Congo hand [with] close ties to government officials including President Joseph Kabila. On Christmas Eve 2008, in the depths of the global financial crisis, Katanga Mining [...] had lost 97 percent of its market value over the previous six months and was running out of cash. Global credit was drying up, the copper market had fallen 70 percent in just five months, and Congo [...] was the last place an investor wanted to be. [...] For about [US]$500 million in a convertible loan and rights issue, Katanga agreed to issue more than a billion new shares and hand what would become a stake of 74 percent to Glencore [... By early 2011] with copper prices regularly setting records above $10,000 a ton, Katanga's stock market value [had reached] nearly $3.2 billion. [...Since the Glencore acquisition,] Katanga Mining is reaping the benefit of the surging markets and its wealthy, powerful owner. After losing $108 million in 2009, it posted an annual profit of $265 million in 2010. (en)
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