Former Xstrata boss Mick Davis has raised US$3.75 billion from investors in a bid to buy mining assets and launch X2 Resources as a mid-level diversified resource company.
The company, based in London, said it had netted US$2.50 billion of committed funding and a further US$1.25 billion of conditional funding from a group of five investors, each contributing equally.
The five investors are made up of raw-materials trader Noble Group, private-equity fund TPG Capital and sovereign-wealth and pension-fund investors, X2 said.
The company said it was in discussions with a further select group of potential investors who are "also seeking to benefit from opportunities in the natural resources arena".
Davis stepped down from Xstrata following a $44 billion Glencore takeover in last May and will be looking to emulate his success there.
Bloomberg reports Davis led a management team at Xstrata that turned the $500 million-market-value coal producer into a $50 billion major through ten years of mergers and acquisitions.
The X2 team is made up of a raft of ex-Xstrata executives including former finance director Trevor Reid.
Davis said it was an opportune time to focus on starting acquisition discussions.
"We have attracted a very prestigious core group of large scale, high quality investors who share our vision of building a new mining group with the potential to generate attractive returns through the cycle. We believe the timing for this venture remains very opportune and we will now focus increased attention on starting the investment process,” he said.
There are reports BHP’s Australian nickel assets may be a key target for X2 Resources.
Image: mining.com