Mongolia Seeking to Float Coking-Coal IPO in Three Financial Centers

Mongolian government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said that the government is preparing to issue an initial public offering or initial purchase offer (IPO) for the country’s Tavan Tolgoi ("Five Hills") massive coking coal deposit.

According to the officials, the multibillion-dollar initial public offering of a government-owned stake in Erdenes-Tavan Tolgoi Co. may take place in Ulan Bator, Hong Kong and London if Mongolia can overcome the remaining technical and logistical hurdles to launching the IPO, Business-mongolia.com website reported.

The Tavan Tolgoi coking coal deposit is located in the east Tsankhi area of Mongolia’s Gobi desert and is estimated to hold over 7.5 billion metric tons of coking coal, essential for making steel, making it currently the world's biggest untapped deposit.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, BNP Paribas SA and Macquarie Group Ltd. are overseeing the sale of Erdenes- Tavan Tolgoi Co.

Erdenes-Tavan Tolgoi Co.has already generated controversy, as in July Japan filed a complaint with Mongolia over the bidding process for the Tavan Tolgoi development project, charging that its decision about the winners was confusing, Mongolia government officials acknowledged. Japanese and Korean firms were not mentioned in the announcement about potential developers of Tavan Tolgoi.

By. Joao Peixe, Deputy Editor OilPrice.com