Ausdrill acquires Taylor Wimpey’s Ghana mining division

Australian mining company, Ausdrill, is acquiring Taylor Wimpey’s mining division in Ghana, West Africa.

The group’s African Mining Services (AMS) subsidiary will purchase Taysec Construction for $20 million.

The transaction includes Taysec’s entire mobile fleet and its mining contract for the Iduapriem gold project, which is owned by AngloGold Ashanti.

The Iduapriem contract has five months to run and AMS is in the process of tendering for a five-year extension, which could be worth in excess of $300 million in revenue.

Ausdrill’s managing director, Ron Sayers, says the group’s relationship with Anglo is growing and that the assignment of the Iduapriem contact has already been approved.

In addition, Ausdrill recently secured the mining contract for Anglo’s Yatela mine in Mali.

The decision to acquire the Taylor Wimpey business breaches the conditions of the offer made by Macmahon Holdings for Ausdrill.

However, the hostile $400.6 million takeover bid had already been dismissed by Ausdrill’s board as unrealistically low.