Japanese trading company Itochu Corporation has agreed to buy 20 percent of a Columbian coal mining operation owned by US coal company Drummond Co. Inc. for a price of $1.52 billion, according to Dow Jones Newswires. The proven and probable reserves of the Columbian operation amount to about two billion net tons.
According to the agreement, the two sides will establish a new joint venture company., with 80 percent owned by Drummond and 20 percent held by Itochu. Drummond International will hold and operate the Colombian coal mining operations and the transportation infrastructure is currently wholly owned by Drummond. Itochu will have the right to sell coal produced by the Columbian operation to Japan.