Cobbetts named top adviser to mining companies
Mar 4 2009 by Tom Scotney, Birmingham Post
Commercial law firm Cobbetts has been named as the top adviser to mining and mineral companies on the AIM listings.
The firm, which operates much of its mining advice work out of its Birmingham office on Colmore Square, was honoured by financial data group Hemscott.
The mining industry has been through difficult times recently, with raising capital for exploration and development projects made harder by the lack of liquidity caused by the credit crunch. There have been mass redundancies as global groups like Rio Tinto and Anglo American.
But Cobbetts said it was still confident that the market would return to normal levels of activity in the future. The firm has close links with many miners in countries like Russia and India.
Charles Bond, a partner in the public markets team in Birmingham, said: “The impact of the economic downturn has seen activity slow within some areas of the mining and minerals sector. As a result, we’ve seen delays and disruptions to a number of projects.
“Although this is a challenging situation for the sector, demand for precious metals such as gold and silver remains strong. In areas where it has dipped, for example within base metals, appetite will eventually return and industry confidence will be restored.
“In the meantime, we will continue to work hard to raise awareness of the sector and of the value that listing on AIM can offer to ambitious companies.”
Recent transactions at Cobbetts included advising Russian mining company Highland Gold, on an acquisition by Millhouse, the investment vehicle of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, of a 40 per cent shareholding for £196 million.
Another deal was the £236 million AIM admission of Panceltica, the first Qatar-based company to be brought to the market. Cobbetts also advised Enegi Oil on its joint admission to AIM and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and AIM-quoted Timan Oil & Gas on a $100 million loan facility with Kazakh-owned Kamanisk Holdings.
The Hemscott ranking follows closely behind Cobbetts’ Law Society Excellence Award for exporting legal services. The firm’s public markets team was recognised for its outstanding achievements in the mining and minerals sector and led Cobbetts to defeat six other short-listed law firms, including two magic circle firms, to pick up the accolade.
Mr Bond recently represented the company at the annual Mining Indaba conference in South Africa for the seventh consecutive year.
Despite the gloom in the air over commodity prices, attendants at this year’s conference were largely confident that there were deals to be done, whether in the form of mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures or farm-in agreements.
Mr Bond said: “In spite of a truly taxing journey, the conference turned out to be a great success for Cobbetts, with prospective business secured from clients in Australia, Africa and Russia.
“Mining is the heartbeat of the world economy, which is why it is so important for us to be at the epicentre of this industry. Cobbetts has built an international reputation based on its extensive experience in the field and we are thrilled to have had such encouraging feedback again this year.”
