(Reuters) - France's ERAMET <ERMT.PA> on Wednesday increased its all-cash offer for Australia's Mineral Deposits Ltd <MDL.AX> to A$1.75 a share, valuing the company at A$344.7 million ($261 million).
ERAMET said it would pay A$322 million for the shares it did not already own in the company.
The offer was 19.9 percent higher than ERAMET's last offer of A$1.46 per share, and represented a 51 percent premium to Mineral Deposits' closing price on the last trading day prior to the announcement of the earlier offer, ERAMET said.
The French mining and metallurgy company said it intended to declare its latest and final offer free from conditions if it acquired a stake of at least 50.01 percent.
The acquisition would enable the full consolidation of the TiZir joint venture, in which each company has a 50 percent stake.
(Reporting by Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Stephen Coates)
