Large Shareholders may keep stakes in company
The board of Macarthur Coal has said that it will open talks with Peabody, following the American company’s latest $16-a-share offer that values Macarthur at $4.07 billion.
Peabody will be granted a five day period of due diligence.
However Macarthur said an extraordinary general meeting scheduled for Monday to approve its takeover of Gloucester Coal has been postponed to a date, time and venue to be advised.
The moves came after two of Macarthur’s largest shareholders, Korean steel mill Posco with an 8.3 per cent stake and international steel company, ArcelorMittal, which has a 16.6 per cent shareholding in Macarthur, gave a guarded welcome to Peabody’s latest offer.
POSCO said that it "confirms its in-principle support for a Peabody-led privatisation of Macarthur" while ArcelorMittal stated "that the Peabody offer is one that warrants due consideration". Macarthur’s largest shareholder, China’s Citic, has yet to indicate its support for the offer. Peabody has indicated that Macarthur’s three largest shareholders may be allowed to keep their stakes in the company.
The deal to buy Gloucester Coal and a stake in Hong Kong-based Noble Group’s Middlemount project in Queensland would have given Noble at 24 per cent stake in Macarthur. Industry-watchers are suggesting that this deal is now dead as Macarthur begins its engagement with Peabody. However, Macarthur is yet to officially recommend Peabody’s latest bid which could leave the way open for a bid from another mining giant, Switzerland’s Xstrata.
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