Meeting the higher end of a price range does not often net the buyer a 6.5 per cent share price bounce. Especially when the Las Bambas mine, the asset in question, will produce copper, a metal priced near three-year lows. But first, this is a transformative deal that will vault MMG, the Hong Kong-listed arm of state-backed China Minmetals, into the copper big leagues. Second, there are signs of a new willingness among investors to look again at China’s state-owned enterprises.

The group buying Las Bambas from Glencore Xstrata for $5.85bn is headed by MMG, with a 62.5 per cent stake. Add in $2.4bn of capital still needed to fully develop the mine and MMG is on the hook for $5bn. That is not small for a company with $123m in net profits last year. Its $1.4bn of net debt is nearly twice earnings before interest, tax. depreciation and amortisation. Still, Minmetals can supply cheap funds.

The SoE issue is of wider interest. MMG’s share gain is a vote for Beijing’s plans to boost transparency by putting assets where they can be seen. Unlisted Minmetals could have taken the mine for itself. Last month, Citic Pacific, the most unloved stock in the Hang Seng, said it would buy $36bn of assets from its parent, Citic Group. (Citic Metal, another unit, is part of the Las Bambas consortium.) No price has been yet set, but Citic Pacific has since outperformed the index twice over, gaining 15 per cent.