Chinese iron and steel giant Baosteel Group Corp (寶鋼) yesterday said it was readying a takeover bid for Aquila Resources Ltd that values the Australian iron ore and coal firm at A$1.4 billion (US$1.3 billion).
Baosteel Resources Australia, a subsidiary of the Chinese parent’s overseas development arm, and Australian rail freight operator Aurizon are offering A$3.40 per share in cash for the company.
The conditional off-market proposal represents a premium of 38.8 percent to Aquila’s close on Friday last week of A$2.45. Shares in the firm surged on the news and closed up 36 percent at A$3.34 yesterday.
Baosteel Resources International chairman Dai Zhihao (戴志浩) said as the bidders had been unable to meet the Aquila board, they had decided to take the offer directly to shareholders.
“We believe this is a compelling offer for Aquila shareholders as it provides an opportunity for them to realize certain value for their Aquila shares at a significant premium to current market prices ... at a time of uncertainty of the funding and development pathway for Aquila’s suite of greenfield projects,” he said in a statement.
He said the deal was in line with Baosteel’s strategy of building a leading global steel and resources business by developing Aquila’s Pilbara iron ore project in Western Australia and a hard coking coal development at Eagle Downs in Queensland.
Baosteel, which already has a near 20 percent stake in Perth-based Aquila, said the offer was designed to push progress on the projects the Australian firm was reportedly unable to secure funding for on its own.
“After five years, we haven’t seen any projects started,” Baosteel Resources Australia vice president Wu Yiming said. “Our original intention was to support Aquila in developing its projects... Now we want to get things started.”
Aurizon chief Lance Hockridge said the offer “would provide attractive returns for the owners of Aurizon and for Baosteel, of course, secures further access to a very high quality, low cost iron-ore project and coal.”
“This cooperation represents a co-investment by Australia’s largest rail freight operator and one of China’s leading iron and steel producers to develop quality Australian resources,” Hockridge added.
The takeover had the potential to develop a new world-class iron ore district in the western Pilbara, supported by an integrated multi-user rail and port solution, he said.
The offer comes after an Australian-Chinese consortium last week secured a 98-year lease on Australia’s largest coal export port.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
RSS