Ian Hannam, the City of London dealmaker who left JP Morgan last year to fight a market abuse fine, is the new owner of German copper fabricator Mansfelder Kupfer und Messing (MKM), sources with knowledge of the matter told Metal Bulletin.
Kazakhmys sold MKM to an unnamed European family office last month for €42 million, three years after putting it up for sale.
The German company registry shows MKM is now controlled by a company called 1909 Copper Bidco, which sources said Hannam set up to acquire MKM.
Hannam, a 12-year veteran of JP Morgan and one of the most well-known dealmakers in London, has advised on some of the City’s largest mining listings, including those of Vedanta, Xstrata, BHP Billiton and Kazakhmys.
Kazakhmys acquired MKM in 2005, shortly before it appointed JP Morgan to advise on its listing in London.
MKM, which produces copper wire, tube, bar, strips and sheet, has a long-standing relationship with KGHM, which will supply it with cathode worth an estimated 1.52 billion zloty ($475 million) in 2013.
The Hettstedt-based company, which was founded in 1909, has a Conti-M rolling mill producing approximately 50,000 tpy of pre-strip copper.
New owner Hannam left JP Morgan in April last year after the Financial Services Authority fined him £450,000 for market abuse relating to the transfer of insider information relating to Heritage Oil to unnamed third parties.
Hannam appealed the decision and his case is due to be heard in London next month, a source familiar with the matter said.
Hannam made a return to City dealmaking in April, as he joined Strand Partners, a corporate advisory firm specialising in mergers and acquisitions, capital raisings and “complex group restructurings”.
The firm is run by Neil Passmore, a fellow former JP Morgan banker who advised on the Glencore Xstrata merger, while the bank’s former natural resources fund manager Ian Henderson also serves as a senior adviser at Strand.
A spokesman for Hannam declined to comment on the MKM acquisition, as did MKM.
Mark Burton
mburton@metalbulletin.com
Twitter: @mburtonmb