News: SO4 Investor Tykac looks for more acquisitions in U.S., Australia

Czech billionaire Pavel Tykac said in an interview he is looking for acquisitions in the United States and Australia to continue his string of deals involving power production, coal and mining rights that sought high yield in sectors shunned by others.

Tykac's Sev.en Global Investments this week announced it was buying land, including mining royalty rights in Queensland, Australia, adding to its purchases in the country, including Delta Electricity and Australia Salt Lake Potash.

The investor, whose net worth Forbes estimates at $8 billion, told Reuters he would look for similar deals in the United States, Australia and Canada, where he said rule of law and policy predictability were good for business.

"The coal and fossil world is so badly financeable that it leads to the assets being much cheaper, because they have to be financed by equity," Tykac said in his Prague office.

"We have crossed the critical weight, we have enough equity that we can afford projects in the range of single billions of dollars," he added.

Fossil industries will be phased out, but for the time being they offer strong returns, he said.

"Without doubt this will end one day, but at the moment there are opportunities in this sector and we do not think there is any great rush, that the power plants are needed," he said.

Tykac grew wealthy from investments in the Czech Republic in the 1990s and later in the energy sector domestically and abroad. His Sev.en group includes coal-fired power plants and lignite mines in the Czech Republic that he said may be closed down in 2026 without government subsidies.

The sister firm Sev.en GI also holds interests in Australian coal power plants under Genuity Pty Ltd, and in the United States has acquired Blackhawk Mining in Kentucky and West Virginia. The company also owns 55,000 acres and more than 600,000 acres of mineral rights with 2.2 billion tonnes of proven coal reserves in Wyoming, Ohio, Illinois and West Virginia.

Tykac said his group had earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of about 2.5 billion euros ($2.75 billion) last year and expects a little lower or similar result this year.

"Projects we do have very strong cash flow... so we are looking and when we do not do anything for a few months, or stash fills up relatively quickly," he said. ($1 = 0.9084 euros)