(Updating with further comment, background)
London 21/06/2016 - Singapore metals trader Kyen Resources has agreed to buy Gunvor's copper and zinc books, sources close to the negotiations told FastMarkets.
"It's done - the contract is signed," a source with direct knowledge of the talks said today. ""It's a shuffle. It makes sense everyone thinks it-s the right price - [Gunvor] felt they were leaving it in good hands so it was amicable"
The sale is understood to have been agreed - the books had been offered to several merchants before Gunvor won out - but there are still some details to be ironed out.
"There's no ali - they took the copper and zinc," a second source close to the negotiations said.
Gunvor had put its copper and zinc book up for sale as part of an exit from base metals trading, as FastMarkets exclusively reported two weeks ago.
And although Gunvor is exiting the base metals business, no senior traders will be joining Kyen although some associates may, FastMarkets understands.
Singapore-based Kyen started trading in 2014 and has been expanding its trading operations across Asia, recently opening an office in China.
"Actually, a lot of the book that we bought were already existing clients so it's increasing our book. We were already [operating in] China but we were doing it slower and had a mandate from our shareholders in February [to expand]," a source at Kyen said.
(Editing by Mark Shaw)