New Hope agrees to combine with Malabar in all-share deal valuing the coal miner at about A$1.8 billion

ASX-listed coal producer New Hope Corporation has agreed to acquire the shares it does not already own in unlisted Malabar Resources, the two companies announced on Monday.

Under the binding scheme of arrangement, Malabar shareholders would receive 0.5 New Hope shares for each Malabar share. Based on New Hope’s closing price of A$5.84 on Friday 16 October, that implies A$2.92 a Malabar share and an equity value of about A$1.8 billion for all of Malabar, the companies said. They put Malabar’s implied enterprise value at about A$2.4 billion. New Hope already holds about 26% of Malabar.

Malabar owns the Maxwell underground mine near Muswellbrook in New South Wales, which began longwall production in April 2026 and targets up to 5.5 million tonnes a year of saleable coal once the longwall is expanded, the announcement said. The mine is close to New Hope’s Bengalla mine.

The companies said the combined group would have a pro forma market value of about A$6.3 billion and a pathway to about 19 million tonnes a year of saleable production. Existing New Hope shareholders would own about 79% of the combined group and other Malabar shareholders about 21%.

Both boards support the deal, and Malabar’s board unanimously recommends that its shareholders vote in favour, subject to customary conditions, the companies said. Malabar nominees Wayne Seabrook and Tony Haggarty would join New Hope’s board.

The scheme still needs approval from Malabar shareholders, the court and regulators, and is expected to be implemented by March 2027.