[miningmx.com] — ANGLO American is contemplating a bid for Australia’s Macarthur Coal that would challenge US coal company Peabody Energy’s earlier offer for the Australian mining firm, according to a Bloomberg report.
Anglo, one of Australia’s top producers of coal, is looking into Macarthur’s finances, the Bloomberg report said, citing an unnamed person with knowledge of the matter.
In July, Peabody, the largest US coal company, had teamed up with ArcelorMittal , the world’s top steelmaker, to offer $5bn for Macarthur Coal in a bid to secure its resources of pulverized coal, a key steelmaking ingredient.
The US coal company and ArcelorMittal launched a hostile A$4.7bn ($5.2bn) bid for Macarthur Coal on Aug. 1 after the Australian target’s board said the approach undervalued the company and it was working on attracting a rival offer.
Xstrata, Vale, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto have been cited as potential acquirers for the mining company, which has Chinese firm Citic Resources as its biggest single shareholder.
Macarthur and an Australian Anglo representative declined to comment about the report. ArcelorMittal and Peabody could not be reached for comment.
