ALROSA acquires 51% stake in Nizhne-Lenskoye diamond miner for RUB 3.67 billion

Alrosa has announced the acquisition of a 51% stake in Nizhne-Lenskoye, a diamond mining company, for RUB 3.67 billion (USD 119.5 million).

Nizhne-Lenskoye mines alluvial diamonds in the immediate vicinity of ALROSA subsidiary Almazy Anabara’s operations.

Nizhne-Lenskoye mines about 2 million carats of diamonds per year and has estimated reserves of 26.4 million carats.

The acquisition boosts ALROSA’s total reserves by 3%-4%.

According to an InvestCafe analyst, the asset has been purchased at a fair price but the deal has a downside for ALROSA as well: Nizhne-Lenskoye has a large debt burden, which will add to ALROSA’s own large debt burden.

According to the analyst, Nizhne-Lenskoye’s net debt is 2.87 times its expected EBIT for 2012.

Source (Russian): InvestCafe via BrightWire News.