Jakarta. Heavy equipment company United Tractors (UNTR) through its subsidiary PT Danusa Tambang Nusantara has signed a share subscription agreement (SSA) to acquire 19.99 percent of shares in Nickel Industries Ltd. (NIC) listed on the Australian Securities Exchange Ltd (ASX).

According to the agreement, NIC will issue 857 million new ordinary shares to United Tractors at a price of A$1.10 per share, bringing the total amount of investment to A$943 million.

The completion of this transaction is subject to certain prerequisites, including the approval of NIC shareholders based on ASX listing rules.

NIC is a leading company in the mining and integrated nickel processing sector, with main assets located inside or near the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) in Central Sulawesi and the Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP) in North Maluku.

NIC holds an 80 percent stake in nickel mining company Hengjaya Mineralindo, one of the largest suppliers of limonite and high-grade saprolite ore to IMIP. NIC also operates 12 lines of rotary kiln electric furnaces.

United Tractors President Director Frans Kesuma said that the strategic acquisition of minority shares in Nickel Industries is an important step in the company's business diversification.

"This step will materialize our integrated nickel strategy and expand our group's presence in the electric vehicle supply chain," Frans Kesuma said in a statement on Friday.