Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Jindal, Rockfield End Takeover Talks

Australian coal miner Rocklands Richfield has ended takeover talks with India's Jindal Steel and Power. Rockfield said talks had ended because the deal was not in the best interests of shareholders.

Jindal last month matched an offer of 56c a share from China's Meijin Energy Group for the coking coal developer, valuing Rocklands at A$197 million.

Negotiations began in September when the two parties agreed a takeover by Jindal at 42c a share which valued RCI at $146mn. Two further parties – India’s Essar group and Chin’s Meijin – then joined the bidding battle although Essar suddenly quit the bid without citing any reason. Both Jindal and Meijin have bid $197mn for RCI.

Rocklands has coal tenements in Queensland that it estimates hold more than 900 million tonnes of coal and has a coking coal plant in eastern China.

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