Vedanta Resources target of take over bid by Chinese group

With the international mining sector still abuzz with speculation about the price that BHP Billiton was prepared to pay for Rio Tinto, came fresh rumours that it was now the turn of Vedanta Resources, the Indian copper mining group. Apparently, a Chinese group is now mulling a bid for the company, fancying a price of up to 2,700p per share.

A bid at 2,700p would value owner Anil Agarwal''s 53 per cent stake in the company, for instance, at more than £4bn.

According to traders on the bourses, the deal makes a great deal of business sense, for Vedanta''s operations are close to China and given the raw material consuming giant''s high demand for copper it would make eminent sense for the Chinese to control some of the supply.

A bid would, however, need to get the approval of majority holder, Anil Agarwal.

The talk sent Vedanta shares vaulting by 220p to 2,120p in early deals, before it closed up 136p at 2,036p.