LAWIN Tallinn office advised Molycorp, Inc. upon the acquisition of a controlling stake in AS Silmet

LAWIN Tallinn office legal experts advised Molycorp, Inc. upon the acquisition of a 90,023% controlling stake in AS Silmet by its wholly owned subsidiary Molycorp Minerals, LLC.  80% of the shares were acquired from AS Silmet Grupp and 10,023% from Treibacher Industrie AG. The remaining 9,977% of shares continue to be held by AS Silmet Grupp. The transaction value was approximately $89 million. As part of the transaction, the company also will change its name to Molycorp Silmet AS.

Molycorp, Inc. is based in Colorado, USA and is the only rare earth oxide producer in the Western Hemisphere.  The acquisition provides Molycorp with its first European base of operations, as well as doubles the company’s current rare earth oxide production capacity from approximately 3000 tonnes per year of rare earth oxide equivalent to 6000 tonnes. The transaction will also expand its manufacturing capabilities into the production of the rare metals niobium and tantalum that were not previously included in the company’s product line.

AS Silmet is based in Sillamäe, Estonia and is one of only two rare metal and rare earth metal producers in Europe producing up to 3,000 tonnes rare earth products and 700 tonnes of rare metal products annually.  The company currently sells products to customers in Europe, North and South America, Asia, Russia, and other previous Soviet Union countries. As a result of the acquisition Molycorp Silmet AS will benefit from the steady and secure supply of rare earth feed stocks from Molycorp’s Mountain Pass, California rare earth mine and processing facility and will become the first rare earth oxide and metal producer in Europe that is not dependent on rare earth materials sourced from China.