Chinese mining and trading firm China Molybdenum Co Ltd has reached an agreement to buy the Brazilian niobium and phosphate businesses of U.K.-listed Anglo American Plc for US$1.5 billion, the latter said on Thursday.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval from China and could be concluded in the second half of 2016, U.S. financial newspaper The Wall Street Journal reported.
According to figures cited by British newspaper The Financial Times, the Brazilian niobium and phosphate unit generated revenues of US$554 million and operating profits of US$119 million last year. Phosphate is a fertiliser while niobium is a metal used in steel alloys.
The operation had previously attracted interest from U.S. and Brazilian companies, the report said.
China Molybdenum bought a copper mine in Australia from mining giant Rio Tinto in 2013, The Financial Times reported.
