Our preferred share and warrant investment in Altius Minerals (TSX:ALS, Financial) continues to bear fruit. Led by founder Brian Dalton, Altius has built its mineral royalty business from scratch over the past 20 plus years and now has a market capitalization in excess of Cdn$600 million. In recent years, through an Altius subsidiary, Brian has successfully developed a royalty model for renewable energy projects which has been recently validated by a co-investment from Apollo and an IPO. The IPO values Altius' interest in the renewable royalty subsidiary at approximately Cdn$172 million which is in excess of 2 times the cost of Altius' investment. Although Altius' revenues were hard hit by the COVID-19 crisis in early 2020, the company is benefiting from the current substantial recovery in prices for commodities such as copper, iron ore and potash, as well as the growing interest in renewable energy and ESG-focused investments.
From Prem Watsa (Trades, Portfolio)'s 2020 annual shareholder letter.
