Yancoal lifts stake in Moolarben with A$300 million purchase from Sojitz

On 27 March, Yancoal agreed to purchase an additional 10% stake in the low-cost export thermal coal Moolarben joint venture for A$300 million (US$183 million) cash from Sojitz. The acquisition sees Yancoal increase its ownership to 95% and marketable equity production by 1.8 Mtpa. The deal marks Yancoal’s first M&A transaction in over a year, and the largest coal transaction in 2020, superseding fellow Australian miner Terracom’s recent acquisition of Universal Coal. In this insight, we evaluate: * the strategic rationale for both Yancoal and Sojitz * deal metrics and how the deal implied price compares with recent thermal coal transactions