Davit Akman has been quoted in the article “Canadian Mining Deal Collapses, Seller Blames Government Restrictions,” published by Law Business Research’s Global Competition Review.
Writes Charles McConnell: “Canadian copper mining company Solaris Resources has abandoned the sale of a minority stake to a Chinese buyer, blaming ‘regulatory uncertainty’ and a ‘counterproductive’ policy governing deal reviews in the critical minerals sector…. The deal collapse comes after the government outlined a policy shift in November 2022, stating that it would only allow foreign state-owned enterprises to invest in the country’s critical minerals sectors when there is a likely net benefit ‘on an exceptional basis.’ Meanwhile, separate amendments to the Investment Canada Act, which received royal assent in March, empower the government to review all investments by state-owned enterprises from countries that do not have a trade agreement with Canada.”
This is not the first deal to be abandoned during the review process and the government’s critical minerals policy has led to complaints that the industry cannot access necessary funding.
However, says Davit, “no one should be surprised by the outcome here.” He notes that “the proposed transaction ‘was directly in the teeth of the policy’ and was ‘unapprovable’ based on publicly available information.”
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