Billionaire Friedland’s iron ore miner seeks up to $190 million in Australia IPO

Mining billionaire Robert Friedland’s latest venture, iron ore producer Ivanhoe Atlantic Inc., is seeking to raise as much as A$300 million ($190 million) from an initial public offering in Australia, people familiar with the matter said.

Proceeds will be used to fund the development of the Kon Kweni project in Guinea, a major undeveloped iron ore deposit in West Africa previously known as Nimba. Rio Tinto Group’s giant Simandou iron ore project, also in Guinea, is expected to begin production this year.

The listing, expected in May, aims to raise A$200 to A$300 million, the people said, asking not to be named as the discussions are private. That range would put it among the largest floats expected for the Australian Stock Exchange this year.

In 2024, four of Australia’s top five IPOs raised between A$303 million and A$337 million. The exception was data center operator DigiCo Infrastructure REIT, which floated in December and raised A$2 billion.

“We are working through a process to target an ASX listing in mid-2025 but are not able to confirm quantum or valuation at this stage,” an Ivanhoe Atlantic spokesperson told Bloomberg, in response to emailed questions.

The miner, which is not connected with Friedland’s Toronto-listed Ivanhoe Mines, has said it chose Australia in an effort to make the most of a mining investment community that is well-versed in the steel-making ingredient iron ore, Australia’s top export. Ivanhoe’s prospectus is currently being finalized.

Friedland is one of the most prominent promoters in mining. He made a name for himself by selling the giant Canadian copper-nickel project Voisey’s Bay in 1996, and later solidified his position with the Oyu Tolgoi deposit in Mongolia, one of the largest copper mines in the world — today owned by Rio.

He won the rights to the high-grade deposit that is now Kon Kweni in 2019, taking over from a consortium including BHP Group after it was left undeveloped for years.

BMO, Euroz Hartleys Group and Aitken Mount Capital Partners have been appointed as joint lead managers in the offering, working alongside law firm Thomson Greer.

Separately to Ivanhoe Atlantic, Friedland is co-chair of ASX-listed battery raw materials producer Sunrise Energy Metals Ltd.

(By Paul-Alain Hunt)