Aura Minerals announced entering into merger agreement

BVI-registered Aura Minerals Inc. entered into an agreement with Rio Novo Gold Inc. to combine and create strong portfolio of long term mining properties. The combination will be effected by the plan of merger pursuant to which Aura will acquire all the shares of Rio Novo and Rio Novo shareholders will receive 0.053 of an Aura common share for each Rio Novo share.

The new combined entity will operate under the Aura name and will remain listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The combination is subject to the approval of a majority of the votes cast at special meetings of Aura and Rio Novo shareholders to be held on or about February 2018, as well as minority shareholder approval.

Northwestern Enterprises, which is holding approximately 52% of Aura's common shares and 65% of Rio Novo's common shares, entered into a customary voting and support agreement pursuant to which, among other things, it has agreed to vote its Aura common shares and Rio Novo common shares in favour of the transaction. Following closing the transaction, it is expected that the combined company will have approximately 43,039,156 shares issued and outstanding and Northwestern will hold an approximate 55.3% interest in the combined company.

Aura Minerals agreed to sell Serrote Project

Aura Minerals Inc., the mining company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, agreed to sell Mineração Vale Verde Ltda, which is the owner of the Serrote da Laje Copper Gold project. Under the terms of the purchase and sale agreement, BVI company’s wholly owned subsidiary will sell 100% of its interest in Mineração to the purchaser group for an aggregate consideration of US$40mln, which comprises cash payment of US$30mln payable on closing, as well the delivery by the purchasers of a subordinated unsecured note in the principal amount of US$10mln. The transaction is planned to be closed before the end of February 2018, subject to customary closing conditions.

Rodrigo Barbosa, President and CEO of Aura Minerals, commented on the agreement: “Serrote is a first-class project and the decision to sell our interests followed careful consideration of our options. The consideration received from the sale unlocks significant value to our shareholders and accelerates our strategy to further develop our existing assets and pursue new growth opportunities.”

Mkango Resources announced £500,000 placing with the BVI company

Mkango Resources Ltd., an exploration company working in the Republic of Malawi, has received conditional regulatory approval for the previously announced placing, according to which BVI-registered Talaxis Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Noble Group, invested £500,000 at 3.5 pence per equity unit to acquire 14.5 per cent interest in Mkango.

The investment by the BVI company has been completed by placing 14,285,715 equity units of Mkango. The new shares are applied to be admitted to AIM. Following the placing, Talaxis will hold an interest of 14.5% in Mkango Resources. In connection with the placing, Talaxis has been issued 14,285,715 common shares of Mkango and Share purchase warrants to acquire up to 12 million Shares of Mkango. Each warrant is exercisable at a price of 6.6 pence until December 31, 2020.

Also, the 12 million Share purchase warrants previously issued to Noble Resources International Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Noble, will be cancelled. The BVI subsidiary will not exercise that proportion of its Talaxis Warrants which would result in it holding 20% or more of the outstanding Shares.

Following AIM admission, Mkango Resources will have 98,198,187 common shares in issue.

Luxoft Holding acquired Swiss company focused on Avaloq implementations

Luxoft Holding, Inc. announced that it has acquired UNAFORTIS, a Swiss company specializing in business consulting, Avaloq implementation and other IT services, including testing. Avaloq is a provider of fully integrated banking software, and UNAFORTIS is one of leading partners implementing Avaloq-related services.

The acquisition will add to BVI company’s expertise in standardized software, and will enable Excelian, Luxoft Financial Services to target growing global client base in banking sector. It will also allow the company to better differentiate and compete for complex end-to-end transformational engagements.

Luxoft Holding also plans to offer Avaloq-based services beyond mostly Swiss-client base of UNAFORTIS, and to develop more wealth management and private banking clients. The BVI company expects to build a 150 to 200-engineer global practice, taking advantage of the shared markets of Excelian and recently acquired derivIT in the UK, APAC, Germany and North America, as well as core capabilities of Luxoft.

UNAFORTIS partners commented on the acquisition deal: ”We are very pleased with our alliance with Luxoft. We believe that both the company’s culture and domain expertise will make for a successful acquisition… Our company has grown significantly in the last few years and still has a deep pipeline for further growth. We will help Luxoft grow its presence in wealth management and private and retail banking with the support of our highly skilled consultants.”

Talon Metals received an option to acquire 100 per cent of Tamarack Project

BVI-based exploration and development company Talon Metals Corp. provided an update on the Tamarack Project Nickel-Copper-PGE Project in the USA. Talon currently owns 18.45 per cent interest in the project, which is the main focus of its activities.

Talon Nickel (USA) LLC , the wholly-owned subsidiary of the BVI corporation, received formal notification from Kennecott Exploration Company that it has elected to grant Talon Nickel the exclusive option to purchase its 81.55% interest in the Tamarack Project, for a total price of US$114,000,000. In case the option will be exercised, Talon will become the owner of 100 per cent of the Project. The terms and conditions for the purchase transaction are set forth under the exploration and option agreement between the parties.

Talon Nickel has to inform Kennecott Exploration Company until November 6, 2017, as to whether it will exercise the purchase option. In case the option will be exercised, Talon Nickel is required to pay KEX a non-refundable deposit of US$14,000,000, and an additional US$100,000,000 within 18 months. If BVI company’s subsidiary chooses not to exercise the Purchase Option, the companies will enter into the Mining Venture Agreement and become joint venture partners.

Luxoft Financial Services division completed acquisition of derivIT

Luxoft Holding, Inc., a provider of software development services, innovative IT solutions and digital transformation has completed the transaction under the Share Purchase Agreement to acquire derivIT, a Singapore-based financial services technology consulting company. The transaction was closed upon the receipt of the approval by Reserve Bank of India.

The acquisition of derivIT adds several delivery centers in Bangalore, India; Dubai, UAE; and Tianjin, China. The acquisition also is expected to expand Luxoft’s existing capabilities in Singapore.

By words of President and CEO of Luxoft, the completion of the acquisition transaction “reinforces a strong foundation on which the company is building its presence and the delivery platform in the APAC.” He also said: “We are very pleased to welcome derivIT team and start realizing expected significant synergies in servicing current high-potential clients in the Asia Pacific region, anchoring new business opportunities in financial, automotive, telecom and other sectors, as well as taking advantage of the immediate cross-selling opportunities we see at this time.”

BVI-based subsidiary of Chinese retailer acquires Jiedian Technology Co., Ltd.

Chinese online retailer of beauty products, Jumei International Holding Limited, completed its acquisition of equity interest in Shenzhen Jiedian Technology Co., Ltd. Now equity interest is held by River International Holding Limited, the British Virgin Islands-incorporated company, which is wholly-owned subsidiary of Jumei Inernational Holding Limited.

Jiedian Technology is working in the portable power bank sharing business. It facilitates master power charging boxes in highly frequented points of interest. Also, the company has got an app for users to locate nearby power boxes where they can rent a portable power bank. Jiedian has deployed its power boxes in more than twenty major cities.

JA Solar received takeover bid from BVI company

JA Solar Holdings Co., world leading manufacturer of high-performance solar power products, received a non-binding takeover offer from its Chief Executive Baofang Jin, and Jinglong Group Co. Ltd., a British Virgin Islands company of which Mr. Baofang Jin is the sole director. The offer is for US$6.80 in cash per American depositary share, which represents five ordinary shares, or US$1.36 per ordinary share.

The offer will be reviewed with financial and legal advisers. It is said in the statement issued by JA Solar Holdings: "The special committee cautions the company's shareholders and others considering trading in the company's securities that no decision has been made by the special committee or the board with respect to the revised proposal."

BVI oil and gas company to be merged with Carlaw Capital V Corp.

Carlaw Capital V Corp. has entered into a definitive agreement with Charrua Hydrocarbons Company Ltd, a privately-held oil and gas company, incorporated under the laws of the British Virgin Islands. Under the general terms and conditions of the acquisition agreement, Carlaw will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of the BVI company, by way of a three-cornered merger pursuant to the provisions of the BVI Business Companies Act.

According to the merger agreement Charrua, Carlaw and its wholly-owned subsidiary to be incorporated under the BVI Act will merge to form a new merged corporation, which will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Carlaw.

The proposed transaction will constitute a reverse take-over of Carlaw by Charrua where the existing shareholders of Charrua will own a majority of the outstanding common shares in the capital of Carlaw. The transaction is expected to constitute Carlaw's "qualifying transaction" pursuant to the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange; it will not constitute a non-arm's length qualifying transaction or a related party transaction.

Charrua is a privately held company focused on producing assets and development assets with proven reserves and exploration potential onshore in Argentina and Peru.

Origin Agritech announced shareholder approval of sale transaction

Origin Agritech Limited, agricultural biotechnology company headquartered in China and domiciled in the British Virgin Islands, announced that its shareholders approved the agreement for the sale of its proprietary China-based commercial corn seed production and distribution business to Beijing Shihui Agricultural Development Co, Ltd, an internet company providing agricultural products and technology services. The transaction was initially announced in September, 2016, and expected to close in the second half of 2017, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

CEO of the BVI company Dr. Bill Niebur commented on the shareholder approval, saying that this sale is a critical milestone in repositioning Origin's commercial seed business. He also said that now the new company will focus on "further enhancing our leading agricultural biotechnology and corn seed breeding programs. As previously indicated, the proceeds will enable the company to accelerate the licensing of our biotech traits and elite seed germplasm to industry partners in China and build out our international seed-tech company model."

Axion Ventures completed investment with BVI company

Axion Ventures Inc., formerly known as Capstream Ventures Inc., announced that the company closed its investment in the private British Virgin Islands-registered company Red Anchor Trading Corp, the company engaged in developing "HotNow" platform. The investment agreement between the two companies was primarily announced in October 2016.

CEO and Chairman of Axion Ventures commented: "We are very excited to complete the Investment... In the latter part of 2016 and the first quarter of 2017, we focused our team on forming our joint venture with True Corporation Public Company Limited and assisting Axion Games Limited with strategic advice on game development and launch, which are both progressing well." He also announced updated information on the progress of HotNow application.

The BVI company issued 9,375 ordinary shares to Axion at US$160 per share, in consideration for the US$1.5 million investment. This amount represents 15 per cent of the post-closing issued and outstanding voting shares of Red Anchor on a fully diluted basis. Axion received participation rights in any future security offering of Red Anchor that will allow it to maintain its proportionate interest in the BVI company; tag-along rights in the event of certain share transfers; nformation rights to monthly management reports and financial statements of Red Anchor; inspection rights; and the right to appoint at least one non-executive director to the Red Anchor board of directors.

BVI company acquires securities of Diana Containerships Inc.

Global shipping company Diana Containerships Inc. announced that it has entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with British Virgin Islands-registered Kalani Invesments Limited, which is not affiliated with the company. The agreement is for the sale of 3,000 newly designated Series B-1 Convertible Preferred Shares, preferred warrants to purchase 6,500 Series B-1 Convertible Preferred Shares and preferred warrants to purchase 140,500 newly-designated Series B-2 Convertible Preferred Shares.

The gross proceeds from the sale of 3,000 Preferred shares will be approximately US$3.0 million. Further on, the shipping company will be paid US$6.5 million upon exercise of all of the Series B-1 Preferred Warrants, and US$140.5 million if Series B-2 Preferred Warrants are exercised. The company intends to use net proceeds from the sales for general corporate purposes and/or to repay indebtedness under one or more of existing credit facilities.

NetDragon Websoft through its BVI subsidiary acquired shares in ARHT Media Inc.

NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited announced in the press release the indirect acquisition, through its wholly owned BVI subsidiary NetDragon Websoft Inc., of beneficial ownerhsip of 13,333,333 common shares in the capital of ARHT Media Inc. Pursuant to the subscription agreement between the BVI company and the issuer, the price was CDN$0.15 per common share.

Upon closing of the Private Placement, NetDragon, through NetDragon BVI, has purchased direction and control over 13,333,333 common shares for aggregate holdings of 32,611,437 common shares, representing approximately 29.72 per cent of the issued and outstanding common shares.

Before the closing of the Private Placement the NetDragon controlled 19,278,104 common shares through NetDragon (BVI), representing approximately 19.99 per cent of the issued and outstanding common shares.

UK financial company signs LOI to acquire GVC Holdings Ltd

Financial services company Simian Global Plc signed a non-binding letter of intent to acquire BVI-incorporated GVC Holdings Ltd. in an all-share deal. As a result of the reverse takeover, if completed subject to due diligence and other criteria, shareholders of Simian Global will have minority interest in the enlarged group.

GVC Holdings Ltd is an unrelated and separate entity to London Stock Exchange-listed media and advertising company GVC Holdings Plc.

Simian Global PLC is the company headquartered in the UK, operating acquired business, strategy implementation, and working capital management services.

BVI-based RFW announced update on recapitalization transactions

RFW Banro Investments Limited, incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, announced that it or its affiliates will acquire direct or indirect beneficial ownership in an additional 278,138,715 common shares of Banro, pursuant to the support agreement entered into by RFW in respect of a plan of arrangement of Banro to effect a comprehensive recapitalization transaction.

Currently, RFW has direct or indirect ownership of 50,000,000 Common Shares, representing approximately 16.48% of the outstanding Common Shares, as well as ownership of warrants to acquire an additional 7,500,000 Common Shares, and US$20mln of preferred shares exchangeable for 29,256,766 Common Shares at a price of US$0.5673 per Common Share. Subject to the terms and conditions of the plan, the BVI company would have direct or indirect ownership of 328,138,715 Common Shares, which represent approximately 29.87% of the total amount of Common shares expected to be outstanding. Also, RFW agreed to purchae for cash up to US$50mln in principal amount of 10% senior secured notes.

Northwestern Enterprises purchased 4.2% of Aura MInerals common shares

BVI-incorporated company Northwestern Enterprises Ltd. had acquired 1,400,000 common shares of Aura Minerals, pursuant to a private share purchase agreement. The shares were bought for a total price of US$1,486,962, or US$1.062 per share, and represent approximately 4.2% of Aura's issued and outstanding common shares.

Upon the completion of the Private Purchase transaction, the BVI company owns or controls over 17,589,075 common shares which is approximately 52.6% of Aura's issued and outstanding common shares.

The transaction was completed as part of Northwestern's review of its investment holdings, and to permit it to increase its ownership in Aura.

North West Company Inc. acquires 76 per cent shares in BVI retailer

North West Company Inc., Canada-based retailer with presence in the Caribbean countries, and Roadtown Wholesale Trading Ltd., a privately-held company with retail outlets and wholesale operation working in the British Virgin Islands, entered into definitive purchase agreement for the acquisition of 76% shares of Roadtown Wholesale. The approvals to operate the company under North West majority ownership have been received from the BVI government, and the transaction was approved by the Board of Directors of both parties.

The Canadian company will pay for 76% interest in the BVI retailer approximately US$32 million, and US$5 million in acquisition related costs including stamp duties to the government of the British Virgin Islands.

The acquisition transaction is expected to close in February, 2017, and is to contribute approximately US$5 million of annualized net income to North West, which will pay about 90% of the purchase price in cash, and 10% through issuance of North West common shares. After the acquisition, RTT will continue to operate under the same trade names, Riteway Food Markets and Roadtown Wholesale Trading.

China Natural Resources completed acquisition of Bolivian company

In the end of the year, China Natural Resources, Inc., the company headquartered in China and incorporated in the BVI, had completed the acquisition of Bolivian corporation Planta Metalurgica Antay Pacha S.A. Planta Metalurgica proposes to operate a copper smelting plant in western Bolivia, and is completing the licensing procedure. The trial run is expected to start in the second quarter of 2017, and commercial production will start in the fourth quarter of the year. The purchase price of US$1,541,129 includes US$1,441,129 of debt that is payable upon demand.

CEO of China Natural Resources commented on the acquisition: "We are excited about the prospects of adding a copper smelter to our mining operations in the PRC and believe that Bolivia, a country abundant in various natural resources, offers us the opportunity to diversify our operation. We will continue to explore new businesses opportunities to contribute to revenues and enhance shareholder values."