IMAP advises on acquisition deal between major Indian iron ore players

18 April 2019 Consultancy.in

After submitting a bid of approximately $65 billion, Essel Mining – owned by the Aditya Birla Group – has acquired iron ore development firm Pro Minerals. The latter was advised throughout the transaction by a team from global corporate finance advisory firm IMAP, led by Managing Director & CEO Ashutosh Maheshvari. 

Pro Minerals has been operational for just under a decade, having been established in 2010.The firm was a collaborative venture between Hari Machines and Jyotirmoyee International, and has since evolved into a giant of the metals and minerals sector in India, not least due to its plant in Odisha.

The plant in the Eastern state of India has an annual iron-ore benfication cum pelletization output of 1 million tonnes, and was established with collaborative input from Allmineral in Germany and Primetals Technology from Austria. Nevertheless, the firm found itself in financial trouble in recent years.

After months of insolvency pressure, the firm was put up for acquisition by its financer Bank of Baroda, which has now accepted a bid from Essel Mining complete with a capital infusion that would settle the firm’s existing finances. Advice on the deal came from global corporate finance consultancy IMAP.

IMAP advises on acquisition deal between major Indian iron ore players

IMAP is a partner-owned firm that specialises in the mergers & acquisitions (M&A) domain, and supports firms that fall into the medium-sized category. The firm advises on the buy side as well as the sell side, and supports clients in as many as 200 transactions on an annual basis.

The firm also works with larger multinational firms across a variety of sectors, and deal sizes vary from $20 million to $300 million. In keeping with global trends, the majority of deals that IMAP was involved in last year were in the technology domain, although the latest one falls in the materials, chemicals & mining domain.

Essel Mining & Industries – a subsidiary of the Aditya Birla Group – is one of the most prominent iron-ore mining corporations in India, and holds the position as the largest producer of noble ferro alloys in India. The acquisition of Pro Minerals was supported by Ashutosh Maheshvari and a team of IMAP professionals.

Director at the firm Paresh Raja was also amongst the experts who advised on the deal. The transaction results in a 100% acquisition of Pro Minerals’ business operations.