Mitsui's new stake in Rio Tinto's Rhodes Ridge iron ore project has unlocked $10 billion in wealth for the heirs of Peter Wright, pushing Angela Bennett into fifth on our Rich List.
Mitsui & Co’s new stake in the Rhodes Ridge iron ore project has unlocked $10 billion in wealth for the heirs of Peter Wright, pushing Angela Bennett into fifth on our Rich List.
The deal - in which Mitsui is paying US$5.3 billion for 40 per cent of the project - would recalculate Mr Wright’s daughter's net worth upwards by as much as $5 billion.
That represents the $3 billion in cash for a 15 per cent stake held by AMB Holdings, with the Bennett family company retaining a 10 per cent holding, now valued at $2 billion.
Given that stake was never separately valued by Business News, it could boost Mrs Bennett's net worth to more than $8 billion, rocketing her to fifth on our Rich List, below Kerry Stokes' current $9.5 billion and ahead of industrialist Vikas Rambal on about $4.6 billion.
Her nieces, Michael Wright’s daughters Leonie Baldock and Alexandra Burt, will both generate $2.5 billion from selling their combined 25 per cent stake in Rhodes Ridge entirely.
The deal takes their net worth to an estimated $4 billion each, just below technology entrepreneur Laurence Escalante and ahead of industrial landowner Michael Hodgson at $3.5 billion.
At that valuation, the pair would jointly occupy the seventh position on the Rich List, first published in May last year.
The late Mr Wright was a partner of iron ore magnate Lang Hancock and his family has crystallised that staggering number from an asset which, while known, had not previously been recognised separately in their various companies’ reports.
Neither the public accounts of Wright Prospecting, the umbrella group for the broader family interests, nor those of its owners VOC Group (Mrs Baldock and Mrs Burt) and AMB Holdings (Mrs Bennett) had ever specifically disclosed the value of Rhodes Ridge.
Largely, Business News’ valuation for the various net worths of family individuals had been derived from past dividend streams generated from operating assets, as well as the potential for future income by comparing them to the market capitalisation of ASX-listed player Deterra Royalties.
In its latest annual report, Wright Prospecting merely acknowledged the project in its notes, again without assigning a value.
With most royalty income passed on as dividends to its owner, Wright Prospecting’s net assets for the year ending June 30 2024 were calculated as almost $64.3 million.
However, the note offered a hint that progress was underway towards operating the asset and creating a new revenue stream for the family.
“The group has modernised the joint venture covering the Rhodes Ridge project in the East Pilbara in Western Australia,” its directors’ report stated.
“The binding joint venture updates an existing agreement between the group and Rio Tinto dating back to 1972 and now provides a pathway for the development of the Rhodes Ridge deposits utilising Rio Tinto’s rail, port and power infrastructure.
“The participants have completed an Order of Magnitude study, and have now begun a pre-feasibility study in line with the modernised joint venture terms.”
VOC Group’s statement today signalled the importance of that milestone.
“VOC Group does not have a strategic ambition to directly participate in the development of a project of this scale, however it wishes to see Rhodes Ridge ultimately become a production asset as part of its ongoing family legacy in the Pilbara region,” it said.
“VOC Group felt it was an appropriate time to exit its ownership stake with the Rhodes Ridge Joint Venture agreement having recently been modernised, initial studies having been completed and the pre-feasibility study having commenced.”
The company said the sale process has been overseen by VOC Group’s independent chair Yasmin Broughton, a highly experienced company director and corporate lawyer.
Macquarie Capital acted as financial adviser and Clayton Utz as legal adviser to the sale process.
