QKR buys African gold mine for $110m

One of the private financing vehicles set up to buy mining assets as the industry's largest companies retrench has struck its first deal, buying an African gold mine for $110m.

QKR, set up by former JPMorgan banker Lloyd Pengilly with funds from Qatar and Polish billionaire Jan Kulczyk, is acquiring the Navachab mine in Namibia from AngloGold Ashanti.

Private funds have been gathering over recent months for a swoop on the mining industry in the belief that the downturn for many commodities, along with high debt levels at some of the largest miners, would spark a sale of non-core assets.

Mick Davis, former chief executive of Xstrata, and Aaron Regent, ex-chief executive at Barrick Gold, are among the senior industry figures who have started to put together funds for deals. Mr Davis' vehicle, X2, has $1bn in non-binding commitments from Noble, a commodities trader, and TPG, a private equity group.

So far deals have been hard to come by, with most of the largest miners unwilling to cut valuations, while Chinese buyers have also been competing for assets. Mr Pengilly's QKR vehicle was in the running for Northparkes, an Australian copper mine that Rio Tinto sold last year to a Chinese group.

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