Did a quick google on Andrew Forrest, wanted to see how he operates, his role at Wyloo. Implications being how these negotiations would go, Canada’s takeover panel/national security concerns, etc.

Forrest made his money buying a small iron ore miner that had a stake in an under-explored area that he thought had a lot of potential. His previous company was a nickel mining company but he foresaw China’s rising demand for iron ore (parallel with the rise of batteries and EVs today). Turned out the area he thought had a lot of potential had to be written off because of low grade deposits. But the call on an iron ore boom in China was definitely right on the money.

The close ties to China could be a problem, see below where Australian media have called him a “Beijing propaganda sock puppet” and Baosteel Group being the golden ticket that made him rich (he welcomed the prospect of Baosteel buying shares in his company).

****

Forbes article May 2020: Forrest’s wealth estimated at $8.8 billion based largely on a 30% stake in the iron ore mining company, Fortescue Metals, which sells most of its ore to Chinese steel mills with iron ore at $82/ton.

(Iron ore May 2021: $206/ton, Fortescue stock up 100% since this article)

“But where Forrest dramatically over-stepped the mark was when he invited the Chinese consul-general in the State of Victoria, Long Zhou, to speak at a media conference organized by the Australian Health Minister, Greg Hunt.”

“Long Zhou, in effect, gate-crashed the Minister’s event at Forrest’s invitation, prompting a critical editorial in the national morning newspaper, The Australian, which was headlined: “Business must not dictate the nation’s foreign policy.”

“Losing the best part of a billion dollars will have hurt Forrest, but the real pain comes from the attacks on his allegiance to Australia which culminated with a prominent radio talk show host, Alan Jones, describing him as a “Beijing propaganda sock puppet.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/timtreadgold/2020/05/04/china-friendship-costs-andrew-forrest-900-million-in-a-week/

In 2003, Mr Forrest approached the Allied Mining and Processing company -- which soon after became Fortescue -- about an ore body in the Pilbara.

According to Mr Forrest, the Pilbara was enormously under-explored and there was plenty of ore to be exploited.

``I knew how to do the operations, I understood that backwards and Andrew knows how to do the financing and you've got to combine those skills.

https://www.news.com.au/news/twiggy-was-man-of-steel/news-story/dac65abcd081ffafd43488268c5ef9ef?sv=647e201261ffec63cd14f9561d09871c

When Mr Forrest took over a minnow called Allied Mining and Prospecting in 2003, he told shareholders that he would use the company’s Mt Nicholas deposit to meet what he described as China’s rising demand for iron ore.

But Mr Forrest’s geologists quickly discovered that Mt Nicholas was riddled with impurities and would never be economic to mine, forcing Fortescue — as ­Allied was renamed — to extend its exploration campaign in other parts of the Pilbara.

Fortescue said yesterday the Mt Nicholas deposit had been removed from its inventory as it did not meet cut-off grades.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/fortescue-bolsters-iron-ore-reserves/news-story/edb3babd39e6f8237ea3a7b6ca985bf0

Forbes puts his rise down to Chinese demand for steel and to “red-hot speculative interest in iron ore mining companies in general.”

Forrester's timing was perfect as the Chinese boom was about to explode. Within 12 months he had signed sales agreements with two Chinese iron ore companies. In 2005 they raised $70 million through a convertible note issue. This allowed them to build their port at Port Hedland and the railway to serve it. 

March was a good month for Forrest. His ship came home when he signed a deal with Shanghai-based Baosteel Group Corp, China's biggest steelmaker. The state owned Baosteel will take between 20 and 30 million tonnes of ore this year alone before increasing their order to 55 million tonnes. 

“We are in talks with Baosteel all the time because they are a major customer,” he said. “I'm not here to say they have a particular interest in buying shares but they are most welcome to.”

http://nebuchadnezzarwoollyd.blogspot.com/2008/05/andrew-forrest-australias-new-iron-man.html