Talvivaara Mining Company continues to assess all funding options available for a corporate reorganisation
Talvivaara Mining Company Plc
21 November 2013
Talvivaara continues to assess all funding options available for a corporate
reorganisation
Current cash position anticipated to be sufficient clearly into the first
quarter of 2014,
although funding commitment from certain stakeholders previously approached was
not obtained
On 15 November 2013, Talvivaara Mining Company Plc ("Talvivaara") and its
operating subsidiary Talvivaara Sotkamo Ltd (together, the "Talvivaara Group")
both applied for a corporate reorganisation pursuant to the Finnish Corporate
Reorganization Act by filing related applications with the district court of
Espoo, Finland.
Talvivaara also announced that the Talvivaara Group expected to require
additional liquidity during the reorganisation proceedings for the payment of
costs of the reorganisation proceedings and payment of new indebtedness incurred
after the filing for reorganisation. Towards this goal, Talvivaara made a
financing proposal to a group of stakeholders for additional funding in the form
of a €40 million restructuring facility with Talvivaara as the guarantor and
Talvivaara Sotkamo Ltd as the borrower. Late on 20 November 2013, such
stakeholders informed Talvivaara that they were unable to offer any additional
funding to support the reorganisation process. As a result of this information,
Talvivaara is currently assessing all options available to the Talvivaara Group,
including the adequacy for the reorganisation process of its own cash available.
On 15 November 2013, Talvivaara also announced plans for the rationalisation of
its operations. These actions are expected to increase productivity and,
together with a short-term shut-down of the Talvivaara Group's metals recovery
plant and discontinuation of its ore production for approximately six months,
reduce the Talvivaara Group's operating expenses during the period it expects to
need to attract long-term capital and to right-size its capital structure as
part of the corporate reorganisation process. Talvivaara estimates that, as a
result of these measures and the filing for corporate reorganisation by
Talvivaara and Talvivaara Sotkamo Ltd, the Talvivaara Group's current combined
cash position will be sufficient without additional external funding until
clearly in the first quarter of 2014 and will thus facilitate the corporate
reorganisation process.
Talvivaara continues to believe that bankruptcy proceedings of either company
would have a material value destructing effect and, therefore, would not be in
the best interests of the Talvivaara Group and its stakeholders. Bankruptcy
proceedings would endanger the employment of the employees of the Talvivaara
Group and of many of its suppliers and contractors. Talvivaara also continues to
believe that the environmental impact of a bankruptcy would be difficult to
manage and that corporate reorganisation proceedings and continued production at
the Sotkamo site would best facilitate water treatment and other environmental
clean-up and would also provide the best possibility to preserve value for
various stakeholders.
Under the circumstances, there can be no assurance that Talvivaara and
Talvivaara Sotkamo Ltd will be admitted to corporate reorganisation proceedings
or that their corporate reorganisation, if commenced, is ultimately successful.
The corporate reorganisation process can fail for a number of reasons, including
insufficiency of funds to complete the reorganisation proceedings, unforeseen
operational or environmental issues facing Talvivaara's production facilities,
changes in the operating environment affecting the financial viability of
Talvivaara and various other factors. If Talvivaara and Talvivaara Sotkamo Ltd
are not admitted to corporate reorganisation proceedings or, if commenced, such
corporate reorganisation proceedings fail for these or any other reasons,
Talvivaara and Talvivaara Sotkamo Ltd would expect to file for bankruptcy
proceedings unless other alternatives have materialised by that time.
Enquiries
Talvivaara Mining Company Plc Tel +358 20 7129 800
Pekka Perä, CEO
Saila Miettinen-Lähde, Deputy CEO and CFO
Talvivaara Mining Company Plc
Talvivaara Mining Company is an internationally significant base metals producer
with its primary focus on nickel and zinc using a technology known as
bioheapleaching to extract metals out of ore. Bioheapleaching makes extraction
of metals from low grade ore economically viable. The Talvivaara deposits
comprise one of the largest known sulphide nickel resources in Europe. The ore
body is estimated to support anticipated production for several decades.
Talvivaara has secured a 10-year off-take agreement for 100 per cent of its main
output of nickel and cobalt to Norilsk Nickel and entered into a long-term zinc
streaming agreement with Nyrstar. Talvivaara is listed on the London Stock
Exchange Main Market and NASDAQ OMX Helsinki. Further information can be found
at www.talvivaara.com
Talvivaara continues to assess all funding options for corp. reorg.:
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Source: Talvivaaran Kaivososakeyhtiö Oyj via Thomson Reuters ONE
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