Mining Services International Corp. has agreed to sell substantially all of the company's domestic and foreign civil explosives business to newly formed subsidiaries of Union Espanola de Explosivos, a privately held Spanish corporation based in Madrid, Spain.
Under the terms of the agreement, UEE will pay the company about $7.75 million in cash, assume a note requiring UEE to pay $1 million to the company over time and assume substantially all of the company's liabilities associated with the civil explosives business.
UEE is the largest provider of explosives in Europe and one of the largest in the world, with activities on all continents and other operations in initiation systems, defense, sport cartridges and nitrochemicals.
The Utah-based company anticipates that UEE's North American subsidiary will make employment offers to all current employees of the company's civil explosives business.
Assets and interests being retained by the Mining Services include its Nevada Chemicals Inc. wholly owned subsidiary, which is a 50 percent owner in Cyanco Inc., a joint venture with Degussa Huls Corp. Cyanco produces cyanide for use in the precious metals mining industry. The company will also continue to own the corporate office building in Sandy, but most of it will be leased to UEE's North American subsidiary.
Completion of the transaction is expected during the first half of 2001.