Guj NRE Coke acquires 85% stake in Zelco, gets listed on ASX

Ahmedabad, Nov 28 (UNI) With the acquisition of 85 per cent stake in Zelos Resources NL (ZCO), a company which explores gold and other base materials in Tasmania, the Gujarat NRE group has become the second Indian company to be listed in the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).

Zelos, a limited company, listed in the Australian Stock Exchange, is now officially, 'Gujarat NRE Resources NL (GUJ), after its shareholders passed a resolution last week, giving effect to Gujarat NRE Coke's takeover of 85 per cent stake in the company.

The move will make and will thus accord all the attending benefits that accrue to such listing, a company statement said.

Aditya Birla Minerals Ltd, Hindalco's copper mining subsidiary in Australia, was the first Indian company to be listed on the ASX.

The takeover came through when Gujarat NRE sold its Avondale Coal Mine in the Southern Coalfields of North South Wales, to Zelos for 170 million shares in Zelos and 130 million options of 20 cents.

These shares constitute about 85 per cent of the equity of Zelos, making Gujarat NRE not only the controlling, but also the largest stakeholder in the company, that has now been renamed.

The statement said GUJ is a resource prospecting company with many licenses to prospect for a cornucopia of metals and minerals that include iron ore, gold, copper and coal in the Tasmanian region of Australia.

Gujarat NRE was the first Indian company to own and acquire a coal mine in Australia. It has also recently acquired two virgin blocks in the Canning Basin in Western Australia for petroleum prospecting apart from investing in prospecting entities like Rey Resources, Resource Pacific, Pluton Resources apart from investment in the Pike River Coal Company in New Zealand, the statement said.

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