China's Yanzhou plans to buy Australia’s Gloucester Coal for $2 bn
20 Dec 2011
Trading in Australia's Gloucester Coal was halted yesterday following reports that it is in talks to sell itself to Chinese state-owned Yanzhou Coal Mining.
Citing a person with knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg reported yesterday that China's fourth-largest coal producer Yanzhou Coal Mining Co plans to buy Australia's Gloucester Coal Ltd, in a $2 billion cash and stock deal.
In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), Gloucester said that it had requested trading of its shares be temporarily stopped "pending the release of an announcement by the company".
"Unless ASX decides otherwise, the securities will remain in trading halt session state until... Thursday 22 December 2011 or when the announcement is released to the market," it said.
The Australian Financial Review also yesterday reported that Yanzhou was attempting a backdoor listing for its existing assets in Australia through a proposed merger between Yanzhou Australian subsidiary Yancoal Australia and Gloucester.