The coal price is soaring and the buyer universe is thought to be limited, but Orica is said to be pushing on with the sale of its commercial explosives and blasting systems business Minova.
DataRoom can reveal that private equity firms Platinum Equity, Apollo Global Management and Anchorage Capital Partners have considered an acquisition.
It is thought Anchorage has since walked away.
The level of interest Platinum and Apollo continue to show in the operation is less certain.
Private equity firms have been deterred from buying the business due to the level of exposure it has to the coal mining industry, which ironically, is likely to be providing a financial lift to the business.
Earlier, DataRoom reported that Dywidag Systems International, otherwise known as DSI, was circling the operation.
Triton Partners sold DSI to European engineering firm Sandvik in December, and sources say that it has been interested in the Minova business for some time.
Explosives maker Orica, run by Sanjeev Gandhi, told the market in May that it had launched a sales process for its Minova business and that it had tapped investment bank JPMorgan for the sale.
The business – which Orica purchased in 2006, reportedly for $857m – offers chemical and mechanical ground control products to the mining, civil construction and tunnelling industries.
Minova booked sales revenue of $219.1m in Orica’s first half of the 2021 financial year, down from $263m, and earnings before interest and tax of $7.2m, down from $11.1m.
It is understood to generate about $30m of annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.
In recent years, it underwent a restructure and became a stand-alone business after facing challenges from changing global market conditions.
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