HWE’s administrators announced they had entered into a binding sale agreement with Leighton yesterday following a preliminary arrangement made on November 10.
The sale remains subject to Leighton gaining the approval of the Foreign Investment Review Board, but the transaction should be completed in mid-December this year.
The terms of the agreement require Leighton to make a cash payment to HWE of $A215 million; the replacement of all existing bank-guaranteed performance bonds associated with HWE Mining; and the assumption of certain obligations of HWE Mining under its current finance and operating leases and hire and hire-purchase agreements.
The mining arm is HWE’s largest business and contributed $A695.7 million, or about 62% of the group’s total revenue, in the year to the end of June 2004.
