ASARCO ANNOUNCES SALE OF MIM STAKE FOR US$331.2 MILLION.NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MAY 14, 1996--ASARCO Incorporated (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :AR) today announced that it has sold its entire 15.0% interest in M.I.M. Holdings Limited (ASX ASX See: Australian Stock Exchange :MIM MIM Metal Injection Molding MIM Mendelian Inheritance in Man MIM Mobile Instant-Messaging MIM Man in the Middle MIM Multilateral Initiative on Malaria MIM Metal-Insulator-Metal MIM Master of International Management MIM Made in Mexico ) for US$331.2 million. The sale will result in an after-tax gain of $39.0 million or $0.91 cents per share Cents per share The amount of a mutual fund's dividend or capital gains distributions that a shareholder will receive for each share owned. ($60.1 million pre-tax). Asarco said that the proceeds will be used to reduce debt. Richard de J. Osborne, chairman of the board of Asarco, commented, "The sale of our interest in MIM provides significant cash to reduce debt and allows the Company to focus its attention on investments which it operates and manages directly. The reduction in debt improves our debt to capitalization ratio to 28.3% from 34.8% at the end of the first quarter of 1996 and will reduce annual interest expense by approximately $21 million. Current market conditions in Australia, including the strong Australian dollar, allowed us to accomplish the sale quickly and on attractive terms." The sale was managed by Bain & Company, the Australian subsidiary of Deutsche Morgan Grenfell. The shares were sold internationally to institutional investors. Upon consummation of the transaction, Asarco will relinquish its two seats on MIM's Board of Directors. ASARCO Incorporated, headquartered in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , is one of the world's leading integrated producers of nonferrous metals, principally copper, lead, zinc, silver and molybdenum molybdenum (məlĭb`dənəm) [Gr.,=leadlike], metallic chemical element; symbol Mo; at. no. 42; at. wt. 95.94; m.p. about 2,617°C;; b.p. about 4,612°C;; sp. gr. 10.22 at 20°C;; valence +2, +3, +4, +5, or +6. . Asarco also produces specialty chemicals and aggregates. Asarco had 1995 sales of $3.2 billion. CONTACT: Jerry Cooper, Corporate Communications ASARCO Incorporated, 212-510-1810 |
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