King & Wood Mallesons has advised Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co Mitsui on its $5.34 billion agreement to acquire a 40 percent interest in Australia’s Rhodes Ridge iron ore project, with Clayton Utz representing one of the sellers, VOC Group.

The deal, marking Mitsui's largest investment ever, is a result of long-term efforts to expand its production volume of iron ore, a key growth driver, Reuters quoted Mitsui CEO Kenichi Hori as saying.

Located in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, Rhodes Ridge is one of the world's largest undeveloped deposits of the key steelmaking ingredient, with 6.8 billion metric tons of mineral resources, Reuters added.

It noted that the Japanese company is buying out two separate stakes controlled by the family of late Australian magnate Michael Wright, whose father jointly discovered the region's iron ore lode in the 1960s.

Wright Prospecting's former 50 percent interest in the Rhodes Ridge joint venture has been restructured and separated into two newly formed entities separately controlled by its shareholders, VOCG and AMB, Reuters noted. Mitsui will buy VOC Group's entire 25 percent interest for $3.34 billion.

The KWM team was led by partner Andrew Deszcz, who was supported by senior associate Matt Persico.

Partners Brett Cohen and Mark Paganin led the Clayton Utz team, with support from special counsel Armin Fazely.