Steinmetz’s Mining Firm Enters Administration

RAPAPORT… BSG Resources Limited, diamond tycoon Beny Steinmetz’s mining company, has entered administration, meaning
control has been given to practitioners responsible for trying
to rescue the business.

Malcolm Cohen and William Callewaert of BDO are
the court-appointed joint administrators, the advisory firm said Tuesday. They are
tasked with operating in the creditors’ best interests, with a secondary duty
to other stakeholders if there is any money left after all creditors
are paid in full.

The administrators’ primary focus is to try to return BSGR to
a state where it can pay off its debts. In the event the company becomes stable
enough to operate on its own, the administration will end, and the company will return
to its directors’ control, BDO explained.

BSGR is pursuing separate court actions in both Paris and New
York regarding its alleged connections to a bribery scandal over the rights to the
Simandou iron-ore mining project (pictured) in Guinea, a BDO spokesperson said Thursday.

Correction, March 8, 2018: A previous version of this article incorrectly said the BSG Resources Limited administration applied to the “group.” The administration only relates to BSG Resources Limited. In addition, BSGR is not “facing” court actions in Paris and New York, as previously reported, but pursuing such actions.



Image: Rio Tinto