NPS, Korea Investment to sell off stake in Brazilian miner CBMM

South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) and Korea Investment Private Equity Co. are set to sell off their stake in a Brazilian rare metal mining firm, seeking a fund liquidation 12 years after the investment, according to sources familiar with the matter on Tuesday.

The two institutional investors have tapped Credit Suisse as the lead manager for the divestment of preferred shares in Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineracao (CBMM). The firm is the world’s leading supplier of niobium, an element used in alloys for jet engines, rockets, beams for buildings and oil pipelines.

NPS and Korea Investment PE had teamed up with steel giant POSCO in 2011 to acquire a 5% stake in CBMM for $650 million in order to secure the raw material and stable dividend yield.

The Korean pension fund and PE firm injected a combined 360 billion won ($272.3 million) in preferred stocks, while POSCO then poured in about 400 billion won to buy common shares.

NPS and the PE firm are understood to be selling the shares to CBMM’s existing stakeholders. The metal miner’s largest shareholder is Brazilian banking family Moreira Salles with 70%, followed by Chinese and Japanese firms holding minority stakes.

POSCO will maintain its holdings and won’t acquire an additional stake at this time, according to sources.

Write to Dong-Hun Lee at leedh@hankyung.com

Jihyun Kim edited this article.