By David Winning and Cynthia Koons
SYDNEY--HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC) has named Tony Pearson, former
vice-president of coal miner SouthGobi Resources Ltd. (1878.HK), to
be head of metals and mining for Australia in the resources and
energy group, people familiar with the situation said Monday.
Mr. Pearson, who starts this week and will be based in Sydney,
will help build out HSBC's investment banking capabilities in
Australia, people familiar with the situation said. HSBC said in
December it was expanding its global resources and energy group in
Australia to build out its advisory capabilities in mergers and
acquisitions, capital raisings and lending.
The bank has thus far appointed Roshan Menon, who joined from
Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS.LN), to head up the group.
Mr. Menon is responsible for the oil and gas and power and
utilities sectors while Mr. Pearson will head up the metals and
mining unit inside the resources and energy group, a person
familiar with the situation said.
The resources industry has been a source of growth for
Australia's economy in recent years, thanks to robust demand for
commodities like iron ore and natural gas. But the resources boom
has started to lose steam in recent months. The economic slowdown
in China has led to a slowdown Australia's resources industry
investment, causing the prime minister to declare the mining boom
to be over.
That hasn't deterred HSBC, which has said it's growing the
business to help its Australian clients access its international
network. Chinese firms are still active acquirers of assets in
Australia. Companies from China, South Korea and Japan have raised
their bets in recent years on a wave of natural gas projects along
Australia's northern and eastern coastline that are set to supply
Asian economies with clean fuels for the next 20 years.
In the mining sector, Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) said Monday it would
sell its majority stake in an copper-gold mine to China Molybdenum
Co. (3993.HK) for US$820 million. Earlier this month, Yanzhou Coal
Mining Co. (YZC) offered to buy out minority investors in its
Australian subsidiary, Yancoal Australia Ltd. (YAL.AU)
Mr. Pearson has a background in investment banking, having
worked as a metals and mining banker for Citigroup before joining
the Australian Securities and Investment Commission and then
SouthGobi. SouthGobi was the target of a takeover bid by Aluminum
Corp. of China, or Chalco, last year but the deal failed due to
political opposition in Mongolia and the economic slowdown in
China. At Citigroup, Mr. Pearson advised Australian and Asian
mining companies on mergers, divestments and capital raisings.
In addition to building out the resources and energy group, HSBC
also set up a project and export finance business in Australia last
year. In Hong Kong, the bank has hired a number of senior bankers
to its resources and energy group from firms like Macquarie and
UBS.
-Write to David Winning at david.winning@wsj.com and Cynthia
Koons at cynthia.koons@wsj.com