Pacific Road Capital and Resource Capital invest US$100 million in Firestone Diamonds

Fasken Martineau advised mining investment firms Resource Capital Funds (Resource Capital) and Pacific Road Capital Management (Pacific Road) on their US$ 100 million funding package into AIM-listed Firestone Diamonds plc (Firestone). Pacific Road and Resource Capital each completed a US$35 million equity investment in Firestone Diamonds through the subscription of 487,864,372 new Ordinary Shares at a price of 6.15 US cents per new Ordinary Share. In addition, both investment firms are each lending US$15 million to Firestone by way of a convertible mezzanine debt facility. The funds will be used to build and commission the main treatment plant and supporting infrastructure at the Liqhobong Diamond Mine located in Lesotho. The project is owned 75% by Firestone and 25% by the Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho, and construction is expected to be completed in 2016. Resource Capital is a Denver based mining-focused private equity firm that has provided financial support to approximately 118 mining companies involving projects located in 40 countries. Pacific Road is a Sydney-based private equity manager investing in the global mining community. Fasken Martineau advised Pacific Road and Resource Capital with a team led by Tanneke Heersche and which included Ashen Jugoo, Jamie MacDonald and Lerato Nonyana (Johannesburg); Jane Wang, Thomas Wexler (London) and John Elias (Toronto).