La Mancha unveils $1.4B gold fund

La Mancha unveils $1.4B gold fundPRIVATE resources investment group La Mancha Holdings has launched a plus-US$1.4 billion fund targeting the small-to-mid-cap precious metals space.La Mancha unveils $1.4B gold fundLa Mancha's Naguib SawirisFinance La Mancha Fund SCSp has been established as a long-term fund dedicated primarily to listed gold equities. The approach was designed to take advantage of the firm's precious metals pedigree, though it was open to exposure to the energy transition though battery metals assets. La Mancha said the first raising had closed and it was looking at "a number of new opportunities". These assets were being assessed by an advisory committee chaired by Naguib Sawiris, who also chairs La Mancha Holdings. Sawiris described the establishment of the fund as the "natural consequence" of La Mancha's activities since selling its operational assets into Evolution Mining and Endeavour Mining in 2015. "Transitioning to a fund structure and welcoming new investors is timely when we are seeing opportunities in a gold mining sector, which is fragmented and needs further consolidation," he said. The fund is seeking "significant stakes in junior mineral resource companies with strong managerial and geological potential to implement a three-to-five-year value creation strategy". Assets with an opportunity to grow through improved efficiencies and enhanced, long-term exploration plans were being prioritised. La Mancha said it would also "support accretive external growth opportunities" and "mergers with larger players" in response to the identified need for consolidation. The fund would have a strong ESG focus, which had been identified as being interrelated with profitability.

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