Mining group Xstrata could be about to step into the bid battle for Australia's Macarthur Coal, which has already rejected two rival offers worth around $3.5bn.
Macarthur - which wants to do its own deal to buy the smaller Gloucester Coal - has been approached by both Peabody Coal of the US and local rival New Hope. It has dismissed both offers but has decided to postpone a shareholders' meeting to approve the Gloucester deal to give investors more time to weigh up the options.
At the same time Macarthur revealed Xstrata's interest in the proceedings:
Macarthur advises that it has become aware that an investment bank representing Xstrata has approached one of the substantial shareholders in Macarthur. Macarthur understands that this discussion was "preliminary and
highly conceptual". Macarthur has no further information about the context or content of that discussion, nor whether Xstrata has any substantive interest in Macarthur or any of its assets.
With commodity prices moving higher Xstrata - which is known for its acquisitive nature - added 31p to £12.94. The company refused to comment on the Macarthur situation.
