Stornoway Receives ‘Meaningful’ Investment by Blackstone

(IDEX Online News) – Stornoway Diamond Corporation has announced that Blackstone Tactical Opportunities, an affiliate of Blackstone, has acquired a “meaningful equity position” in the company and a minority ownership interest in the Renard diamond stream by way of a secondary market transaction with Orion Mine Finance.

Orion remains the majority owner of the Renard stream interest and continues to be the second largest shareholder with an approximate 20-percent stake in Stornoway's issued and outstanding common shares.

“We are very happy to welcome Blackstone as a shareholder and streaming partner in the ongoing development of the Renard Diamond Project,” said Stornoway president and CEO Matt Manson.  

“Blackstone's transaction with Orion is additional validation of the good progress being made by the Stornoway team and in the long-term fundamentals of the diamond mining sector. Blackstone's global presence and their long-established status as one of the world's leading investment firms make them ideally suited to Stornoway as we work to build a world class diamond mining company."

The Renard Diamond Project is fully financed and permitted for development of an open pit and underground diamond mine that is expected to produce an average of 1.6 million carats per year over an initial 11-year mine life, representing approximately 2 percent of global diamond supply by value. The project remains on schedule for plant commissioning beginning in late 2016 and commercial production in the second quarter of 2017.