By Rhiannon Hoyle
SYDNEY--Aquila Resources Ltd. (AQA.AU) said Friday it had
settled a long-running dispute over the sale of its 24.5% stake in
an Australian coal project to Brazil's Vale SA (VALE).
Vale will pay 150 million Australian dollars (US$156 million)
for the stake in the Belvedere coal mine project, located in
Queensland state, as well as A$20 million to settle all legal
proceedings relating to the project, Aquila said in a statement.
The A$150 million value of the stake was determined last month by
investment bank Rothschild, which had been appointed to carry out
an independent assessment of the project.
Aquila agreed to sell its interest in Belvedere to Vale in June
2010, but the two sides couldn't agree on its "fair-market"
valuation, preventing the deal from being completed.
In a separate statement, Aquila said it had received
environmental approval from the Western Australian government for
the development of Anketell Port, a new deepwater port proposed for
the nation's iron-ore rich Pilbara region in which it holds a 50%
interest.
Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com
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