Alexei Mordashov looks for the new resources.

The main owner of Severstal, Alexei Mordashov’s new fund Aterra Capital, which will specialize in recource projects, has completed its first deal. The fund became the owner of 10 % in the Plains Creek Phosphate Corporation (the corporation develops the phosphate deposit in Guinea-Bissau). Shortly Aterra Capital can be also included in several projects, mostly – in developing countries. The Severstal’s resource division’s team of managers, that controls the fund, refused to invest into non-core assets.    

According to Boris Granovsky, Aterra Capital is the new private fund with the single investor in the person of Alexei Mordashov. The purchase of the Plains Creek’s shares is the first fund’s deal, which is aimed at the investments into the projects of solid commercial minerals production, with the exception of the companies Severstal and Nord Gold (which are under the control of  Mordashov), connected with the core business. The priority investments under discussion – the nonferrous and the precious metals, the raw material for fertilizers production and thermal coal. The geography of the investments is the whole world, including Russia, but mostly - the developing countries. The fund plans to buy the shares, mostly in minority, of public and nonpublic companies, which have the licenses for deposits development, at an early stage too. The investment horizon, according to Boris Granovsky, is 4-5 years.

The fund’s team includes the people came from the Severstal-Resource (the Severstal’s production devision). In particular, Mr Granovsky was its Director of Strategy and Corporate Development. Now the fund is considering about ten possible projects for the investments, Boris Granovsky said to Kommersant daily, but he didn’t elaborate the details.       

http://rosinvest.com/novosti/910744

Translated by Svetlana Kyrzhaly