UPDATE: Macarthur Coal: Noble Cancels Middlemount Share Sale
April 20 2010 - 4:42AM
Dow Jones News
Plans for Hong Kong-based commodities trader Noble Group Ltd.
(N21.SG) to sell its stake in the Queensland state-based
Middlemount coal mine to its joint venture partner Macarthur Coal
Ltd. (MCC.AU) have been terminated with immediate effect, the
Australian miner said Tuesday.
The Middlemount deal was tied to a plan for Noble to sell its
87% stake in New South Wales-based coal miner Gloucester Coal Ltd.
(GLC.AU) to Macarthur, in exchange for a 24% stake in Macarthur.
Noble's shareholders on Monday rejected that bid.
Nevertheless, Macarthur said it will seek to continue
discussions with Noble and Gloucester to "assess potential
alternative transactions that may be strategically valuable to
Macarthur shareholders."
Macarthur is itself the target of a A$4.07 billion offer by
Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU), and said on Friday it had entered talks
with the U.S. company after two of its three largest shareholders
signalled qualified support for the takeover.
Steelmakers POSCO (005490.SE) and ArcelorMittal (MT) have both
signalled their support for the Peabody offer, although Citic
Resources Holdings (1205.HK) said on Monday that it didn't yet have
enough information.
Peabody has made its offer for Macarthur conditional on the
Australian company dropping its bid for the Middlemount and
Gloucester assets.
Noble, despite sharing Peabody's opposition to the Middlemount
and Gloucester deals, is also opposed to the U.S. company's
proposal to take over Macarthur.
In a statement on Monday, the company said: "We are getting sick
of sitting around as a patient backstop to allow Macarthur to be
shopped to the world. We feel like the patient suitor driving the
prom queen to all her other dates."
The cancellation of the Middlemount deal was all but a formality
after Noble's vote against the Gloucester bid, a spokesman for
Macarthur said on Monday.
"The Middlemount transactions will not proceed in their current
form," Macarthur said in a statement.
In an earlier statement following a board meeting in response to
Noble's rejection of the Gloucester deal, Macarthur said it was
"considering the consequences" of the vote against the Gloucester
bid.
"Macarthur's expectation is that given the result of the
meeting, it is now unlikely that the Gloucester/Noble transactions
will proceed in their current form," it said.
The decision leaves a door open for Macarthur and Noble to
restart discussions under different terms.
Australia is the world's biggest exporter of coal, and the port
of Newcastle through which most of Gloucester's production is
exported is the world's busiest coal export harbor.
Media reports have suggested that Xstrata PLC (XTA.LN) was
interested in a takeover of Macarthur but Macarthur's board said it
had "not received any proposal from Xstrata or its
representatives."
-By David Fickling, Dow Jones Newswires; 612-8272-4689;
david.fickling@dowjones.com
Citic Resources (PK) (USOTC:CTJHY)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Citic Resources (PK) (USOTC:CTJHY)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024