Maharlika brings Indian investor to Makilala mine

The Maharlika Investment Corporation (MIC) has sold its $10-million bridge loan for Makilala Mining Company to an Indian-backed firm, recycling capital and drawing foreign investment into the country’s mineral development sector.

MIC, the country’s sovereign wealth fund manager, assigned the loan to Equinaire Holdings Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of India-listed Kiri Industries Limited (KIL).

The short-term loan had been extended to support the early stages of front-end engineering design and feasibility study for Makilala’s flagship Maalinao-Caigutan-Biyog Copper-Gold Project in Pasil, Kalinga.

With these early-phase studies now completed, MIC said that it has mitigated project risk and paved the way for the entry of a new strategic investor.

The sovereign wealth fund manager added that the transaction was expected to generate gross annualized returns exceeding the 12.5 percent interest rate of the loan, in line with its mandate to deliver risk-adjusted returns while actively managing its portfolio.

“This transaction underscores MIC’s role as a catalytic investor, deploying capital to unlock value in strategic sectors and creating pathways for long-term private investment,” MIC president and CEO Rafael Consing Jr. said.

“The bridge financing enabled critical early-stage work for the MCB Project and this assignment allows MIC to realize its returns while bringing in a capable international partner to support the project’s next phase of development,” he added.

Under the agreement, Makilala retains the option to fully repay the outstanding amount within 15 business days from notice of the sale.

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Should the company choose not to exercise this option and subject to the completion of standard conditions, Equinaire will formally assume MIC’s position as lender.

Equinaire’s entry reflects its growing interest in expanding its portfolio in critical minerals and downstream processing, aligned with its parent firm KIL, a global manufacturer of dyes, intermediates and basic chemicals.

KIL has also begun constructing a greenfield copper smelting plant in India.