Nikanor plc[3] was a publicly quoted holding company for Global Enterprises Corporate (GEC) with assets in the rich Copperbelt region in Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

[3] The senior management team of Nikanor included Emile Mota and Simon Tuma-Waku, who were the chief of staff and Minister of Mines and Energy under DRC President Joseph Kabila.

The bid valued Nikanor's shares at £6.00, the price when it floated, and was presented by the Cosaf Ltd consortium[note 1] (which also includes the Swiss trader and Gertler's long-time associate, Glencore International AG and UK equity fund, RP Capital Partners).

That deal gave Glencore exclusive rights to sell all Nikanor's output – an "offtake" agreement [...] By investing in Nikanor, Glencore consolidated a powerful partnership [...] linked to Gertler, an old Congo hand [with] close ties to government officials including President Joseph Kabila.On Christmas Eve 2008, in the depths of the global financial crisis, Katanga Mining [...] had lost 97 percent of its market value over the previous six months and was running out of cash.

[6]Timeline summary of transactions: On September 9, 2004, GEC signed a joint-venture (JV) agreement with the state-owned Gécamines[9] to rehabilitate and operate the Kananga and Tilwezembe mines.

[5] KOV (Komoto Oliveira Virgule) is a "massive open cast copper-cobalt project comprising the world-class assets Tilwezembe and Kananga deposits and the Kolwesi concentrator in the DRC's Katanga province.