Finland’s Afarak buys operation of Serbia’s Magnohrom magnesite mines

Finnish alloy producer Afarak said it has signed an agreement to acquire the mining rights on magnesite mines of Serbian insolvent refractory material producer Magnohrom for 1 million euro ($1.2 million).

Following the completion of the two-year sintered magnesite test project at the Magnohrom plant, Afarak has acquired the operation and the mining rights for various magnesite mines with confirmed reserves of over 4 million tonnes of ore, the Finnish company said in a statement last week.

“The acquisition of Magnohrom allows Afarak to supply the growing refractory material industry. Afarak will be investing in upgrading the technology and equipment at the mines and processing units,” CEO Guy Konsbruck said.

In March, Serbia’s Bankruptcy Supervision Agency said it accepted a bid of logistics company Nelt Group for the acquisition of the electrothermal products factory of Magnohrom in Kraljevo.

Afarak is a specialist alloy producer focused on delivering sustainable growth with a speciality alloys business in southern Europe and a ferroalloys business in South Africa. The company is listed on NASDAQ Helsinki and the main market of the London Stock Exchange.

Kraljevo commercial court declared Magnohrom insolvent in September 2016, when the company’s outstanding liabilities totalled 4.1 billion dinars ($40.8 million/34.8 million euro).

Source: SeeNews