By IANS,
Mumbai : Sterlite Industries (India), a subsidiary of metals and mining major Vedanta Resources, has bought over the century old American Smelting and Refining Co (Asarco) for $2.6 billion (Rs.109 billion).
Announcing this here Saturday, the company said the agreement between the London-based Vedanta Resources and Tucson-based Asarco was now waiting for the approval of the US Bankruptcy Court in Texas.
The acquisition would be financed through a mix of debt and existing cash resources, said the company.
The assets to be acquired include three open-pit copper mines and a copper smelter in Arizona, and a copper refinery, a rod and cake plant and a metals plant in Texas. The asset acquisition is on a cash free and debt free basis. Sterlite will assume operating liabilities but not legacy liabilities for asbestos and environmental claims for ceased operations.
Asarco last year produced 235,000 tonnes of refined copper. The company recorded a total revenue of around $1.9 billion in the year ended Dec 31, 2007.