Trading in the shares of iron ore miner Midwest Corp was halted yesterday pending an announcement connected to the first hostile takeover bid by a Chinese company in Australia.
The Australian Securities Exchange said in a statement that Midwest had sought the trading halt.
The trading stop was to remain in place until the announcement was made or until the start of normal trading tomorrow.
In a statement, Midwest said the announcement “may impact on the takeover of the company.”
State-backed Sinosteel Corp, China’s No. 2 iron ore importer, has offered A$5.60 per share for Midwest in a bid that values the Australian company at about A$1.2 billion (US$1.1 billion).
Midwest has rejected the bid as too low.
In recent weeks, Sinosteel and Midwest have exchanged terse statements about whether a dispute between Midwest and another company, Yilgarn Infrastructure Ltd, could harm Midwest’s plans to develop a port in Western Australia State.
Sinosteel already holds a 19.9 percent interest in Midwest, which is planning a 15 million-tonnes-a-year iron ore project in Western Australia State to shore up its iron ore supply.
Later yesterday, the board of Midwest recommended shareholders accept a raised takeover bid worth almost A$1.4 billion.
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