Metals Consulting International Ltd (MCI), the independent iron and steel sector management consulting firm, has announced the merger of its advisory business with that of Saint Barbara, advisors to the world’s metals, minerals and mining industries. MCI mostly undertakes iron and steel sector due diligence and feasibility study work for clients in Western, Central and Eastern Europe, Africa and in the Middle East. Saint Barbara supports commodity sector clients in Europe, Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Americas. Both MCI and Saint Barbara also offer international clients expert witness advisory support on mining and metal sector topics.

The merger, which took effect on 31 March 2020, sees Saint Barbara’s business activities come under the umbrella of the MCI Group. Currently, MCI also owns and operates metalsconsultinginternational.com, steelonthenet.com and steelexpertwitness.com. After the merger, Saint Barbara will continue to operate under the Saint Barbara brand, with seamless transfer of all ongoing client work to MCI at the point of merger.

Commenting on this development, Andy Wells, Partner at Saint Barbara said: “We are delighted to come together with the experts at MCI. There is much complementarity between our two businesses, and the merger means that we will be able to offer clients a much broader range of metals, minerals and mining sector advisory capabilities.” David Duckworth, who will lead Saint Barbara’s metals, minerals and mining practice from April 2020 added: “This development will allow us to enhance our capabilities and continue to support banks, governments and private investors in making better business decisions in industries that are highly capital intensive.”

Andrzej Kotas, Managing Director of MCI added: “MCI too are very pleased to join forces with Saint Barbara, who have well-established mining and metal industry expertise. Together, our industry specialists look forward to continuing growth of our newly-enlarged firm as interest in the global ferrous and non-ferrous metals industries continues to rise.”