Japanese bank buys stake in Lynas Corp
(6 July 2011 – Global) Japanese bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has taken a 9.99 percent stake in rare earths developer Lynas Corp.
Lynas plans to start shipping rare earth minerals from its Mount Weld deposit in Western Australia and a processing plant in Malaysia from the first half of next year, giving it roughly one-sixth of the global market for the metals.
Mitsubishi's 9.99 percent stake in Lynas is mainly a technical result of its decision to switch US$1.7 billion (A$1.59 billion) worth of convertible bonds into an equity stake in Morgan Stanley last week. The Japanese firm bought the bonds during the global financial crisis, when Morgan Stanley appeared close to running out of money.
The conversion gives Mitsubishi a 22 percent shareholding in Morgan Stanley, which in turn has a declared 10.3 percent shareholding in Lynas. Under Australian corporations law, the move over a 20 percent stake in Morgan Stanley means that Mitsubishi must declare the bank's shareholdings as being under its control.
Mitsubishi's 9.99 percent stake in Lynas is mainly a technical result of its decision to switch US$1.7 billion (A$1.59 billion) worth of convertible bonds into an equity stake in Morgan Stanley last week. The Japanese firm bought the bonds during the global financial crisis, when Morgan Stanley appeared close to running out of money.
The conversion gives Mitsubishi a 22 percent shareholding in Morgan Stanley, which in turn has a declared 10.3 percent shareholding in Lynas. Under Australian corporations law, the move over a 20 percent stake in Morgan Stanley means that Mitsubishi must declare the bank's shareholdings as being under its control.
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