Yankoal Australia to Acquire Australia's Kestrel Coal Mine for Up to USD 2.4 Billion

(Yicai) April 15 -- Shares of Yankuang Energy Group fell after Yancoal Australia, in which the Chinese coal miner owns a controlling stake, unveiled plans to acquire a majority interest in a coal mine in Australia for up to USD2.4 billion.Yankuang Energy [SHA: 600188; HKG: 1171] was trading down 3.8 percent at CNY18.75 (USD2.75) in Shenzhen and 2.4 percent at HKD14.38 (USD1.83) in Hong Kong as of 11 a.m. today.Yancoal will buy a 100 percent stake in Kestrel Coal Group, which holds an 80 percent participating interest in the unincorporated joint venture that owns the Kestrel Coal Mine, Yancoal and Yankuang Energy announced in separate statements yesterday, citing a binding acquisition deal.“The proposed acquisition of 80 percent of Kestrel Coal Mine represents a strong strategic fit for Yancoal and adds another high-quality, long-life mine to our portfolio,” said Shariff Burra, chief executive officer of Yancoal. “Kestrel delivers increased scale and diversification to Yancoal’s portfolio and is expected to contribute premium metallurgical coal into our product mix.”The transaction amount consists of a USD1.85 billion upfront payment and a contingent cash consideration of up to USD550 million, which is directly linked to the future operational performance of the Kestrel Coal Mine.Located in the Bowen Basin, Queensland, the Kestrel Coal Mine is one of Australia’s largest underground metallurgical coal mines, boasting leading steelmakers from Japan, South Korea, India, and Southeast Asia as customers. It mainly produces high-quality hard coking coal, which accounts for about 80 percent of the total volume, as well as high-calorific-value thermal coal and semi-soft coking coal.The Kestrel Coal Mine ranks second among Australia’s operating underground metallurgical coal mines in terms of saleable reserves. As of Sept. 1, 2025, it had 164 million tons of marketable coal reserves and 406 million tons of coal resources, with a mine life of about 25 years and potential for extension.In recent years, the mine’s annual raw coal output ranged between six million and 8.1 million tons. It recorded run-of-mine coal of 8.2 million tons and saleable production of 5.9 million tons last year. Yancoal expects the mine’s saleable coal production to be around six million tons this year.The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals in Australia and China, as well as the waiver of the preemptive right over the 80 percent interest in the Kestrel Coal Mine by Mitsui Kestrel Coal Investment, which holds the remaining 20 percent stake of the JV operating the mine.Yancoal’s shares [ASX: YAL] were trading down 2.9 percent at AUD7 (USD4.99) apiece as of 12.30 p.m. Sydney time in Australia. It’s Hong Kong-listed stock [HKG: 3668] fell 0.5 percent to HKD39.02 (USD4.97) as of 11 a.m. Beijing time.Editor: Futura Costaglione