Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Chinese division of Yum! Brands purchases stake in BVI-controlled Little Sheep

On March 25, 2009 the Chinese division of the company Yum! Brands, Inc., headquartered in Shanghai, announced the intention to acquire 20 per cent of Little Sheep - an Inner Mongolia-based hot pot business with outlets around China. As a result of this deal, the value of which is 493 million Hong Kong dollars (US$63.7 million), Yum! Brands will become the second largest shareholder in Little Sheep, after Possible Way International, its controlling shareholder, registered in the British Virgin Islands. Yum! Brands plans to acquire more than 205 million shares of two UK-based private equity firms, and of BVI-based Possible Way International.

The proposed price of shares of BVI-controlled Little Sheep is 2.4 HK dollars each, and the deal is planned to be completed this summer. Upon the completion of the deal, the combined annual operating income of Yum! and Little Sheep in mainland China is expected to be about 32 billion yuan (US$4.71 billion), making less than 2 per cent of the restaurant and catering business, so the deal would not lead to a monopoly situation in China.

Also, spokesman for Yum! Brands said that at the moment the company has no plans to build up larger stake in Little Sheep, and does not plan to participate in its day-to-day business administration.

Yum! Brands, Inc. is a parent company of chain restaurants including KFC and Pizza Hut, operating about 3,000 stores in China. Little Sheep was founded in Baotou in 1999, and now runs mutton-based hot pot catering and franchising business.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Talon Metals updates loan terms for BVI-registered Saber Energy

Mineral exploration company Talon Metals Corp, registered in the British Virgin Islands, announced that it has agreed to a 30 day maturity date extension of the $6 mln loan that was made by it to Saber Energy Corp., a private coal bed methane exploration company working in Botswana, Africa.

Talon Metals entered into a binding agreement with Saber Energy Corp., also based in BVI, in September 2008. The original maturity date of the loan was March 24, 2009, and the loan will not be repaid on this date. Also, Talon continues due diligence review of Saber regarding potential merger of the two BVI companies.

The discussions of the two BVI companies are to be concluded in about 30 days, or on before April 24 2009. In case if the discussions do not result in agreement on a further extension to the loan and interest earned, the loan would be paid immediately.

Talon's $6 mln loan to Saber is secured against Saber's assets which include its land licenses in Botswana and other assets. Currently Talon's management and auditors are establishing an appropriate valuation for the loan. Currently payable interest on the loan is 18 per cent per annum.

Talon is continuing to investigate other opportunities, and is currently undertaking due diligence reviews on a number of such opportunities that have been identified for new resource projects.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

More than 10% of African mining corporation purchased by BVI-registered subsidiary

London Stock Exchange listed mining company Titanium Resources Group Ltd. has published a Notice of Substantial Shareholding, informing the publics that on 12 March it was notified that the British Virgin Islands-registered Leopard Titanium Limited acquired its 2,000,000 ordinary shares, at a price of 3.25p a share. As a result of the purchase, the BVI company now owns 25,427,856 ordinary shares of Titanium Resources, which represents 10.85% of its total issued share capital.

The BVI-based Leopard Titanium Limited is a company in which Mr. Jean Raymond Boulle is the sole shareholder and sole director. It was previously disclosed that Mr. Boulle also directly owns a further 114,981,497 ordinary shares representing 49% of total issued share capital of the mining company.

Titanium Resources Group has the major part of its operations in te Republic of Sierra Leone, producing rutile and ilmenite for industrial needs . It is the country's largest private sector employer,. and its operations historically accounted for over 65% of exports of Sierra Leone.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

China Opportunity Acquisition Corp. to merge with BVI-registered parent of Chinese Specialty Steel Company

China Opportunity Acquisition Corp., a blank check company formed in 2006 as a vehicle to effect a merger, capital stock exchange and asset acquisition, announced that its shareholders approved the merger with Golden Green Enterprises Limited, a privately held company registered in the British Virgin Islands. As a result of this merger, China Opportunity's shares of common stock, warrants and units will be converted into like securities of the BVI company on a one-to-one basis.

Closing of the merger is expected to occur on or about March 17, 2009. Shortly after it, ordinary shares, warrants and units of Golden Green will trade on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board. Following the completion of the merger, Golden Green will continue operations under its present name.

BVI-domiciled Golden Green, through its operating company, Henan Green Complex Materials Co., Ltd., is a manufacturer of specialty steel products in China. Harry Edelson, CEO and Chairman of the Board of China Opportunity, commented that this transaction will provide Golden Green with a public listing in the US, to help execute its aggressive growth strategy.

Monday, March 16, 2009

BVI-based A-Power signs two agreements with GE Drivetrain Technologies

British Virgin Islands-registered A-Power Energy Generation Systems Ltd., the provider of distributed power generation systems in China, and GE Drivetrain Technologies have signed supply and joint venture partnership agreements. The first agreement signed is for GE Drivetrain Technologies to supply A-Power with 2.7 megawatt (MW) wind turbine gearboxes, and another one is to establish Joint Venture partnership for a wind turbine gearbox manufacturing plant in China. Prior to signing the contracts, the companies signed letters of intent a month ago.

Both the agreements are supporting China's initiative to increase wind energy output from one gigawatt in 2005 to 100 gigawatts by 2020, and are the basis for additional future investments by GE Drivetrain Technologies in its local supply chain.

GE Drivetrain Technologies is a unit of GE Transportation – part of General Electric Company, which is a global technology supplier to the railroad, marine, drilling, mining and wind industries.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

BVI registered OpenTV Corporation received proposal from Kudelski SA

BVI-registered OpenTV Corp., a leading software and technology provider of advanced digital television solutions, reported that on February 27, 2009 it received a non-binding proposal from Kudelski SA to acquire all of the Class A ordinary shares of OpenTV Corp., which are not currently owned by Kudelski or its affiliates. The company proposed purchase price of $1.35 per share in cash.

The Board of Directors of the BVI corporation will consider the proposal on the meeting. OpenTV indicated that it does not intend to comment further at this time.

OpenTV is one of the world's leading providers of advanced digital television solutions dedicated to creating and delivering compelling viewing experiences to consumers of digital content worldwide.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Canadian company acquires 60 per cent of BVI-controlled Sunland Properties

The Canadian company Carlyle Mining Corp has announced that it has received notice from the TSX Venture Stock Exchange saying that the trading halt that was placed on shares of the Company on July 11 2008 is lifted effective at the opening of the market on February 25, 2009. The Transaction was previously described in its news release dated December 23, 2008, announcing that it had entered into a share option agreement, to acquire 60% of the issued and outstanding shares of Sunland Properties Limited. Sunland, which is owned by a British Virgin Islands-registered Rowen Company Limited, and controls 520 square kilometres of prospective copper-gold properties situated in south eastern Queensland, Australia.

The properties consist of two exploration permits and one exploration permit application, acquired by Rugby Mining Pty Limited, – a wholly owned subsidiary of Sunland, - from Newcrest Operations Limited. Rugby made the EPA directly with the Queensland Government Department of Mines and Energy.

Pursuant to the Agreement, Carlyle will advance to the BVI-registered Rowen Australian $25,000 as a non-refundable deposit. In order to maintain its option, the Agreement provides that Carlyle will pay to Rowen (BVI) AU$200,000 in cash, which is payable on closing of the Transaction, or within 30 days of completion of any future capital raising financing by the Company.

After the closing of the transaction, Carlyle will be called Rugby Mining Limited, and will change its trading symbol to RUG. An aggregate 16,000,000 common shares will be issued and outstanding.