One of the UK’s largest fund managers has upped its stake in Humber Bank-investing rare earth specialist Pensana.
More than £3 million has been pumped into the company by M&G Investment Management, as it increased its shareholding to 7.7 per cent. It comes a year after its initial 5 per cent purchase in a £10 million equity buy-in to the company.
Pensana is building a £150 million complex chemical separation plant at Saltend, as well as mining operations in Angola. It will kickstart a supply chain for magnet metals - vital in the manufacture of leading green tech such as electric vehicle batteries and wind turbines.
Read more: Pensana progress report as site works commence ahead of big new year push
FTSE 100 Index constituent M&G’s investment total’s £3.19 million, for which it will receive 7.25 million new shares.
Pensana chairman, Paul Atherley, said: “We very much appreciate M&G’s continuing support as a major shareholder over the past 12 months. Initial site works are underway at Saltend and Longonjo, and this additional investment will take us through to main financing and the commencement of main construction at both projects during quarter one of 2023.
“We look forward to delivering on the strong support from major shareholders and developing an independent and sustainable rare earth supply chain based in the UK to meet the burgeoning demand from automotive and wind turbine original equipment manufacturers.”
Admission of the shares to the London Stock Exchange’s main market is anticipated on Thursday, January 5. As reported, the company has started to recruit the first of the 125 employees it anticipates operating with on the PX Group site east of Hull.
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