Photo by: Duane Daws
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Takeover target Universal Coal has been approached by another potential suitor.
The South Africa-focused company previously asked shareholders not to take any action on a proposed takeover offer from shareholder IchorCoal, which had flagged its intention to make an all-cash offer of A$80-million to acquire the outstanding shares in Universal.
IchorCoal, which already holds a 29.99% interest in Universal, would offer shareholders 16c apiece for their shares, but had pushed back the dispatch of its formal offer documentation from September 18 to September 29.
Meanwhile, Universal has been approached by a third party which has expressed an interest in making an alternative offer, which the company said involved a cash offer at a "significant premium" to the IchorCoal offer.
The unnamed third party had existing exposure in the South African coal mining industry.
Universal’s independent directors and advisers would now engage with the third party with a view of better understanding its proposal and conditions, as well as the basis on which the offer price had been determined.
“Given the lack of any new information from Ichor regarding its proposed offer, the subcommittee remains unanimous in its view that Ichor’s proposed offer does not reflect the inherent value of Universal,” said nonexecutive chairperson John Hopkins.
“The interest shown by the submission of an indicative proposal with a substantially higher price strengthens that view. The independent directors reiterate their previous advice that Universal shareholders should take no action regarding Ichor’s offer.”