Bloomberg披露德州油气富豪Albert Huddleston是Sherritt争夺性重组方案中的匿名美国锚定投资人

Another Texas billionaire is making a play for a troubled Canadian nickel and cobalt producer that is one of the top foreign investors in Cuba.

Albert Huddleston, who recently sold family-owned shale assets for $5.2 billion, is an anchor investor in a proposal put forward by Glencore Plc and others to take control of Sherritt International Corp., according to people familiar with the matter.

The consortium went public with its bid this month without naming its US partner and is offering an alternative to an earlier proposal for Sherritt from a billionaire former adviser to President Donald Trump. Huddleston’s family office, Chota Capital LLC, is the unnamed investor, the people said, asking not to be named discussing private matters.

An external spokesperson for Chota didn’t immediately comment.

Sherritt is in exclusive talks with Gillon Capital LLC, the Dallas family office of real estate executive Ray Washburne, who emerged as a potential rescuer in May after the US president expanded sanctions to target almost any foreign company that does business in Cuba. The miner’s biggest creditor, Kyma Capital Ltd., is part of the Glencore consortium and is challenging Sherritt in court, demanding a shareholder vote before the exclusivity period with Gillon ends.

Both proposals would take Toronto-based Sherritt, which has been mining ore in Cuba since the 1990s and owns one of North America’s only cobalt refineries in Alberta, out of Canadian hands as the US aggressively ramps up pressure on the communist-run island in hopes of bringing about economic and political change.

The consortium, which also includes Brevan Howard co-founder Trifon Natsis and submitted its bid in June, would offer Sherritt fresh capital in exchange for at least 55% of the company on a fully diluted basis. A group of bondholders called for the board to consider the Glencore-led offer in tandem with the proposal from Washburne, whom Trump named as head of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation during his first term.

Sherritt’s stock got a boost from the competing offer, trading as high as 48 Canadian cents this week from as low as 13 cents at the start of the month. Shares slumped again Thursday to close at 28 cents. Once seen as a barometer for Cuba’s economic prospects, the company is a shadow of its former self. Its market value of C$193.6 million ($140.4 million) is down more than 95% from its 2008 peak of C$4.8 billion.

London-based Kyma, which owns the largest share of Sherritt’s outstanding notes and roughly 15% of its stock, attempted to force a special shareholder meeting before the five-month window with Gillon expires in October and wants to replace Peter Hancock as chairman. Sherritt, which has scheduled its annual meeting for Dec. 15, rejected Kyma’s call for a special meeting at the end of July.

This week, Kyma announced it’s seeking relief from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Sherritt, in turn, said the court advised that it couldn’t compel a shareholder meeting and cautioned against waging a court battle via press release. Kyma said Thursday another court hearing is set for next week.

Sherritt has been mired in turmoil since the US president issued an executive order targeting foreign companies in Cuba at the start of May, deepening the impact of an energy crisis that’s left the country struggling to import enough fuel to meet its needs. Sherritt paused production at its nickel-and-cobalt mine in eastern Cuba in February and said in June it would idle its Alberta refinery after supplies of raw material from the island dried up.

The miner, which also has a stake in a power-generation business in Cuba, has warned that its ability to continue as a going concern is in doubt. It said in late June it wouldn’t have enough cash to meet its obligations if lenders declared a default and demanded early repayment.

Sherritt initially halted its joint ventures in Cuba and then announced it would dissolve them entirely after Trump expanded sanctions. It reversed course just days later when Washburne made his approach, with the company saying neither the State Department nor the US Treasury objected to its talks with Gillon.

The Glencore-led consortium is pitching its plan as a way to stabilize the company’s operations. It said the non-binding proposal is fully funded through equity commitments and would support Sherritt’s nickel and cobalt business, including its Fort Saskatchewan refinery.