The parties involved reached an agreement on scope early on: both the government and the client were interested in protecting MP Materials’ autonomy and continued growth as a private entity.
However, there were a few hurdles to overcome. For example, the project needed to include funds and planning for the new 10X facility, but things were moving so fast that a site had not even been picked yet, creating difficulties for milestone and timeline-setting.
“This administration wanted to move as absolutely fast as possible while being extremely thorough because we all knew what we were creating was going to be precedent-setting,” said Kevin Colborne, who oversees North American Mining for the Commercial & Investment Bank at J.P. Morgan. “We believe this transaction is intended as a possible blueprint for other industries and companies of national security interest.”
On the finance side, the complex deal demanded an entirely custom structure: a project-based, loan-oriented financing package with an acquisition element. “Everything was built from scratch, fit for purpose and just intense over those eight weeks. The way it came together in the end was extremely fitting for all parties, but intense to the last second,” Colborne said.