PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Coal junior Atrum Coal has abandoned plans for a takeover of Atlantic Carbon Group (ACG), telling shareholders that the company does not have sufficient time to conduct a positive due diligence.
Atrum in September approached ACG in relation to making a possible takeover offer for the shares issued.
Under the UK Takeover Code, Atrum has 28 days to either announce the details of the takeover offer or advise that it will not be making an offer.
The ASX-listed company said on Thursday that although this period was extended by nine days, the company had insufficient time to address issues identified during the due diligence, and as a result, the Atrum board had decided not to pursue a takeover of ACG.
“We appreciate the time that the ACG personnel have given us and we continue to like the technical aspects of the business. However, the time constraints imposed and the necessary analysis required in certain areas made it difficult for us to complete the extensive due diligence required on ACG’s US subsidiaries,” said Atrum executive chairperson Bob Bell.
Atrum also terminated its proposed acquisition of a 26.68% stake in ACG held by Steve Best and his associates.