Mumbai: Essar Group, the Indian business group controlled by billionaire brothers Shashi and Ravi Ruia, said it has acquired 100 per cent of Trinity Coal.
Trinity will supply Essar's US steel operations, Essar Group Chief Executive Officer Prashant Ruia said at a news conference yesterday.
Essar's US investments will increase to $4 billion (Dh14 billion), Ruia said, adding the company will continue to look for acquisitions.
Essar's move follows steps taken by other Indian power companies, such as Tata Power Co and Reliance Power Ltd, to secure coal assets overseas in order to supply surging power consumption in the world's second-fastest growing economy. Over 75 per cent of India's power generation is coal-fired.
Denham Capital Management LP, an energy and commodities-focused private equity firm, announced on Friday that it had agreed to sell its Trinity Coal unit for $600 million to Essar Minerals, a unit of the Mumbai-based group.
Trinity Coal owns and operates six mining complexes in the US states of Kentucky and West Virginia that hold an estimated 200 million tonnes of coking and thermal coal, according to Denham's statement. The company currently produces seven million tonnes a year and has plans to increase that to 10 million tonnes, the statement said.
