Bofill Mir on purchases of SLM California shares
Bofill Mir Abogados has advised EMX Royalty Corporation (EMX) and Elemental Altus Royalties (Altus) in three transactions related to the purchase of shares of SLM California, owner of a 1.944% NSR royalty in the Caserones Copper-Molybdenum Mine located in northern Chile.
The first purchase closed in August 2021, in which Minera Tercero acquired 43% of the issued shares of SLM California for US$66 million.
The second purchase took place in April 2022, in which EMX and Franco-Nevada Corporation partnered to acquire 16.23% ($25.74m) and 23.57% ($37.4m), respectively. To do so, Franco-Nevada conducted a $10 million private placement with EMX. EMX used the proceeds of the private placement to acquire 16.23%.
The third purchase closed in March 2023, in which EMX, Minera Tercero (a joint venture between Altus and EMX) and Franco-Nevada partnered to acquire an additional 5.95% stake in SLM California for US$7.6 million.
As a result, EMX and Altus now own an effective royalty of 0.777% NSR and 0.443% NSR, respectively.
This transaction involved the jurisdictions of Chile, Canada and the United Kingdom, with Bertrand-Galindo Barrueto Barroilhet acting as advisor to the sellers, and Cariola Diez Pérez-Cotapos acting as advisor to Franco-Nevada Corporation.
The advice involved the overall coordination of the transaction between all parties involved, which concluded with the three purchases, the drafting of the transaction documents and the conduct of communications with local and international counsel for all parties. The complexity of the transaction was due to the fact that the issued shares of SLM California were distributed to a large number of separate sellers.
Bofill Mir’s team included partners Pablo Mir (pictured left), Alina Bendersky (pictured centre) and Jorge Valenzuela (pictured right), with support from associates Alonso Calderón, Francisco Miranda and Juan Manuel Bengoa.