Just as traders were starting to daydream about what to do at the weekend, in came an £7bn takeover bid to wake everyone up. Yes, the offer for mining group Kazakhmys from rival Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation arrived a week ahead of the takeover panel's deadline and 10 minutes before the market closed.
The surprise was the price. Far from the £25 a share figure that was doing the rounds yesterday, Kazakhmys says ENRC is offering £15.50 a share including a dividend representing the value of Kazakhmys' stake in ENRC.
There was a terse response: "The board of Kazakhmys has considered and unanimously rejected the proposal from ENRC."
Kazakhmys, whose shares had run higher on hopes of a knockout bid, fell 58p to £18.56 on the news. ENRC added 19p to £13.07.
Overall, with renewed concerns about the credit crunch, the FTSE 100 ended 66.1 points lower at 6204.7, virtually unchanged on the week.
