Pallinghurst Resources LLP

Pallinghurst is headed by former BHP Billiton CEO Brian Gilbertson. Pallinghurst Resources LLP offers investment advice relating to all commodities in the natural resources sector to a variety of investors. Investment opportunities include mines, smelters, refineries, and processing plants. PRLLP attempt to identify opportunities where value can be realised by strategic repositioning, consolidation, vertical integration, expansion or turn-around initiatives. The business model is similar to many private equity/ venture capital type businesses, but with a sole focus on the natural resources sector.

Pallinghurst Resources LLP acts as investment advisor to Pallinghurst Resources (Guernsey) Limited, a company listed on the Bermuda Stock Exchange and the Stock Exchange of the JSE Limited in Johannesburg. It also acts as the investment advisor to a number of other strategic investment partners, who are able to enter into each of the opportunities identified by PRLLP, as they desire. The other strategic investment partners include an affiliate of American Metals & Coal International, one of the world’s largest and most successful privately owned coal mining companies, and an affiliate of Investec, the JSE-listed international specialist banking group and leading provider of financial services to the natural resources industry.

A number of investments have been made to date, including the acquisition of the Fabergé luxury goods brand, which was bought from Unilever in January 2007 for an undisclosed amount. [] Unilever had owned the brand for almost 20 years.

The intention is to restore the Fabergé name as an exclusive luxury goods brand, that will be true to the heritage of Peter Carl Fabergé, one of the world’s foremost designers and purveyors of luxury items. [] ( Peter Carl Fabergé manufactured luxury jewellery in St Petersburg in the 19th century, and is best known for the famous Fabergé eggs supplied to Russian royalty). A key element of this part of the strategy for the Fabergé investment is the involvement of the two great-granddaughters of Peter Carl Fabergé, Sarah Fabergé and Tatiana Fabergé, who now have key roles in the Fabergé business and have been appointed alongside Fabergé experts to the Fabergé Heritage Council.

The second intention for the Fabergé brand is to pursue the consolidation of and vertical integration in the coloured gemstone industry which will, as one of its product lines, market and sell individually branded Fabergé gemstones which will guarantee the provenance and the ethical sourcing of the gemstones. This initiative is linked to the Gemfields investment detailed below.

A further investment has been made to acquire a 75% stake in a Zambian emerald mining company, Kagem Mining Limited. Kagem is located on the Fwaya-Fwaya emerald belt, near Kitwe, and is the largest emerald mine in Africa. In June 2008, the Kagem asset was used as the key asset facilitating the reverse takeover of Gemfields Resources plc. Gemfields owned the rights to a number of other mines on the Fwaya- Fwaya belt, and was listed on the AIM section of the LSE. The reverse takeover resulted in Kagem being vended into Gemfields (together with a license to use the Fabergé name on high-quality coloured gemstones) in exchange for an interest of 55% in the enlarged group. []

Gemfields intends to become the leading producer of coloured gemstones by pursuing consolidation and vertical integration of the sector on an international scale. Gemfields’ operating scope will include acquiring and running scalable mines, in-house cutting and polishing of its high grade material and suitable marketing and branding programmes for coloured gemstones.

Pallinghurst LLP are currently seeking further opportunities to enter into across the natural resources sector.

References

External links

* [http://www.pallinghurst.com pallinghurst.com]
* [http://www.miningweekly.co.za/article.php?a_id=109941 Mining Weekly]
* [http://www.gemfields.co.uk/ Gemfields Resources plc]
* [http://www.faberge.com/ Fabergé.com]