London - US private equity firm Warburg Pincus has appointed ArcelorMittal's former mining head, Peter Kukielski, as “executive in residence” to aid its plan to buy non-core assets from natural resource groups, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
According to the FT, Kukielski has already identified non-core assets at natural resources groups under pressure from subdued commodity prices.
Kukielski told the newspaper that many large mining companies have decided to streamline their portfolios and divest assets that are not material to them as demand is uncertain, prices are dropping and investors are unhappy about the performance of the mining industry as a whole.
An investment in mining by Warburg Pincus would be its first since 1988, when it bought a stake in Arizona-based Magma Copper.
Warburg Pincus could not be reached for a comment outside of normal business hours. - Reuters