Linklaters has cashed in on the buoyant natural resources sector after advising Kazakhstan-based copper producer Kazakhmys on its $801m (£396m) acquisition of an 18.8% stake in Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC).

London-based corporate partner Charlie Jacobs – who co-heads Linklaters' mining sector group – led the City giant's team advising Kazakhmys, with Moscow-based corporate partner Hugo Stolkin and associates Alex Molla and Sarah Radema assisting.

ENRC was advised by De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, with Amsterdam-based corporate partner Paul Cronheim leading the team for the independent Dutch law firm.

The transaction, which was announced on 4 September and is set to close by the end of the year, will also see Kazakhmys return $700m (£346m) to shareholders through buy-back options and a mixture of interim and special dividends.

The acquisition comes with Kazakhmys looking to diversify its resources portfolio in Central Asia and hands the group access to chrome, iron ore, alumina and coal in Kazakhstan.

Jacobs commented: "We would expect further deals in the natural resources sector, where commodity prices are high and companies are still cash-rich."

Linklaters previously advising joint co-ordinators Credit Suisse and JP Morgan Cazenove on the 2005 initial public offering of Kazakhmys, one of the first companies from the CIS to list on London's main stock exchange.

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