Jindal again matches Meijin's takeover offer for Australia's Rocklands
04 Jan 2010
The bidding war to acquire Australian coking coal developer Rocklands Richfield (RCI) by the two Asian giants has once again intensified with India's Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) matching a revised takeover offer from China's Meijin Energy Group.
JSPL, part of the $12-billion Jindal Group headed by Naveen Jindal, has now offered the Perth-based RCI A$0.56 cents per share on a fully diluted basis and A$0.06 cents per RCI option, with an exercise price of A$0.50 cents.
The offer matches Meijin's sweetened 29 December offer of A$0.56 cents a share, which valued RCI at A$197.2 million.
In a statement to the stock exchange today, RCI said, "The directors of RCI are assessing the revised Jindal proposal and the revised Meijin proposal."
"RCI will keep shareholders informed of material developments relating to the revised Jindal proposal and the revised Meijin proposal.
"Shareholders should note that, at this stage, neither the revised Jindal proposal nor the revised Meijin proposal is a formal offer capable of being submitted to shareholders for their consideration," it added.