Australia's New Hope Proposes A$1.8 Billion Acquisition of Malabar

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 19, Australian coal producer New Hope Corporation announced that it had signed a binding acquisition agreement with Malabar Resources to acquire the approximately 74% stake it does not already hold through an all-stock transaction. The deal values Malabar's entire equity at approximately A$1.8 billion, implying an enterprise value of about A$2.4 billion. Upon completion, New Hope will fully control Malabar and its Maxwell underground coal mine in New South Wales.

Under the agreement, each Malabar share held by other Malabar shareholders will be exchanged for 0.5 new New Hope shares. Based on New Hope's closing price of A$5.84 per share on October 16, this equates to A$2.92 per Malabar share. New Hope plans to issue approximately 227.8 million new shares to complete the acquisition. Following the transaction, existing New Hope shareholders will hold approximately 79% of the combined company, while existing other Malabar shareholders will hold approximately 21%. The pro forma market capitalization of the combined company is approximately A$6.3 billion.

The Maxwell underground coal mine is located near Muswellbrook in the Upper Hunter Valley of New South Wales, adjacent to New Hope's existing Bengalla coal mine. The mine began longwall mining in April 2026 and is approved to extract up to 8 million tonnes of raw coal per year over 20 years. The existing 145-meter longwall face has a designed saleable coal capacity of approximately 3 million tonnes per year, which can increase to 5 million tonnes per year upon expansion to a 300-meter face; together with other underground mining operations, the mine targets annual saleable coal production of up to 5.5 million tonnes.

As of the end of February 2026, Malabar reported coal resources of approximately 2.32 billion tonnes, of which approximately 69% falls within the measured and indicated resource categories. The Maxwell mine is equipped with a coal preparation plant, coal stockyard, rail loading facilities and a dedicated rail spur connecting to the Hunter Valley rail network, with coal exported through the Port of Newcastle. Longwall mining at the mine is being advanced in three stages, primarily extracting the Woodlands Hill, Arrowfield and Bowfield coal seams.

The transaction is subject to approval by Malabar shareholders, the court and relevant regulatory authorities, including the Japan Fair Trade Commission. Under the transaction arrangements, a Malabar shareholders' meeting is scheduled to be held between January and February 2027, with the parties aiming to complete implementation of the transaction between February and March 2027. The transaction agreement also provides for a termination fee of approximately A$17 million payable by the relevant party under certain termination circumstances.