China Railway Construction Corp (中國鐵建) and Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Holdings Co (銅陵有色金屬集團控股) offered C$679 million (US$651 million) for Canada’s Corriente Resources Inc to gain copper resources in South America.
Corriente shareholders would receive C$8.60 per share in cash, China Railway Construction said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Monday. That’s 14 percent more than the last traded price of the Vancouver-based company.
China has been scouring the globe for raw materials to sustain the world’s fastest-growing major economy, buying assets from iron-ore mines in Brazil to oil fields in Canada in the past year. Overseas investment by Chinese companies surged 190 percent to US$20.5 billion in the third quarter from a year earlier, the Ministry of Commerce said.
China Railway Construction, China’s biggest railroad builder, and Tongling, its second-largest copper producer, would gain mining rights to 17 deposits in southeast Ecuador.
The acquisition “is in line with the long-term strategy of the company,” Beijing-based China Railway Construction said in the statement.
The company “has added development of mineral resources as one of its principal operations,” it said.
Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Co issued a similar statement to Shenzhen’s stock exchange yesterday, citing its “long-term strategy.”
Calls to Corriente in Vancouver weren’t answered outside of office hours.
Corriente’s board of directors said in a statement on the company’s Web site that the offer is “fair” and recommended its shareholders to accept the deal.
The company’s main assets include mining rights in the Corriente Copper Belt in Ecuador, covering 17 deposits in the four main mining regions of Mirador, Mirador Norte, Panantza and San Carlos, China Railway Construction said in the statement. Copper reserves in the four deposits are about 11.54 million tonnes, the statement said.
Corriente said in May that it planned to spend US$418 million on the start-up of its Mirador mine and was in talks with a partner that might invest as much as US$3 billion. Corriente’s reserves in Ecuador hold about US$50 billion worth of copper based on prices of about US$2 a pound, Ian Harris, the company’s country manager, said then.
Corriente is also involved in exploration and development of gold, silver and molybdenum mines, China Railway Construction’s statement said.
China Railway Construction and Tongling’s venture, CRCC-Tongguan Investment Co, will finance its offer for Corriente through bank loans and internal resources, the statement said.
The acquisition is subject to acceptance by shareholders representing a minimum of two-thirds of Corriente shares, China Railway Construction said in the statement. The takeover is also subject to government approval in China and Canada, it said.
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RULES BROKEN: The MAC warned Chinese not to say anything that would be harmful to the autonomous status of Taiwan or undermine its sovereignty A Chinese couple accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei organized by Hong Kong residents has been deported, the National Immigration Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon. A Chinese man, surnamed Yao (姚), and his wife were escorted by immigration officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where they boarded a flight to China before noon yesterday, the agency said. The agency said that it had annulled the couple’s entry permits, citing alleged contraventions of the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入台灣地區許可辦法). The couple applied to visit a family member in
RSS