Kirkland Advises Engine No. 1 on Strategic Partnership with Vale and Manara Minerals to Accelerate Growth of Energy Transition Metals Business
Kirkland & Ellis advised Engine No. 1, an investment firm focused on decarbonization and the relocalization of North American supply chains, in connection with its binding agreement with Vale to invest in Vale Base Metals (VBM), the holding entity for Vale’s energy transition metals business. Engine No. 1’s investment is being made simultaneously with an investment in VBM by Manara Minerals, a joint venture between Ma’aden and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Engine No. 1 and Manara are collectively investing $3.4 billion, resulting in an implied enterprise value for VBM of $26 billion. This strategic partnership will fast-track VBM’s expected $25-30 billion capital program over the next decade and help drive a significant potential increase in VBM’s production, generating jobs, economic growth, procurement and supplier opportunities, as well as socioeconomic benefits in communities across the key critical mineral jurisdictions where VBM operates.
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The Kirkland team was led by corporate partner Kyle Watson and associates Gabrielle Sumich and Andrei Bucur; real asset partner Chris Heasley and associate Jonathan Strom; international trade & national security partner Luci Hague; and tax partners Mark Dundon and Alexander Cox and associate Rikesh Gandhi; with assistance from corporate partners Sara Pickersgill, Victoria Legg, Hayley Hollender and Kamran Bajwa.
