Photo by: Reuters
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The board of takeover target Aquila Resources has urged shareholders to accept the joint offer by China’s Baosteel and freight transporter Aurizon Holdings, after the company was unable to negotiate a deal with fellow-listed Mineral Resources.
The diversified developer on Wednesday confirmed that it had received a conditional off-market takeover offer from Mineral Resources, valuing the company’s shares at A$3.75, and consisting solely of Mineral Resources shares.
While Aquila had been eager to recommend the offer to shareholders, the two companies were unable to agree on terms that were acceptable to both parties, prompting Mineral Resources to terminate the takeover discussions.
Aquila has now urged shareholders to accept the takeover offer from Baosteel and Aurizon, which were jointly offering Aquila shareholders A$3.40 in cash for every share held, valuing the company at around A$1.4-billion.
Aquila executive chairperson and CEO Tony Poli, who has an interest of 28.92% in the company, said on Wednesday that he intended to accept the offer in the absence of a superior proposal.
Meanwhile, Mineral Resources, which acquired more than 52-million shares in Aquila in an open-market transaction, before launching its takeover bid, said on Wednesday that it was still prepared to enter into discussions with the stakeholders of the West Pilbara iron-ore project, with a view to entering commercial arrangements for the construction and delivery of port-and-rail infrastructure, and for build, own and operate arrangements for the mine.
The company said that it would also consider its shareholding in Aquila, considering the offer from Baosteel and Aurizon, which would remain open until July 11.