consmin privat ups its stake

Privat increases its stake in ConsMin
The board of takeover target Consolidated Minerals Ltd is seeking a meeting with Privat Group after the Ukrainian conglomerate upped its stake in the nickel and manganese miner.

ConsMin managing director Rod Baxter said the company had received a notice from Palmary Enterprises, the investment vehicle which has been amassing a stake in the company.

"They sent us a substantial shareholder notice, Palmary is the entity ... they've actually bought another three million shares over the last couple of days so they now own 13.5 per cent," Mr Baxter told AAP.

Mr Baxter said the notice carried the name of Henadiy Boholyubov, a major shareholder in Privat, and that ConsMin would seek a meeting with the group to discuss their motives.

"There has been no contact so we still do not know what their intentions are ... but we've sent a letter out to them asking for an opportunity to chat," he said.

Privat owns steel, energy, chemical, banking and media assets in Russia, Ukraine, Romania and the United States, and partly owns the world's second largest ferro-alloy producer, Nikopol.

Palmary, a company registered in the Central American nation of Belize, acquired a 12 per cent stake in ConsMin last week, effectively blocking its compulsory acquisition.

The 11th hour share raid has cast a shadow over the takeover battle for ConsMin involving iron ore miner Territory Resources Ltd and a consortium led by Pallinghurst Resources, a company backed by former BHP Billiton Ltd CEO Brian Gilbertson.

Territory said today an independent report backed up the company's claims its takeover bid for ConMin was superior to the Pallinghurst offer.

An independent evaluation report commissioned by Territory and conducted by BDO Consultants has estimated the iron ore miner's share price to have a range of 98 cents to $1.08.

This values Territory's cash and scrip takeover offer at between $3.47 and $3.62 per ConsMin share, or between $791 million and $825 million.

This compares to an all-cash $752 million takeover offer from a consortium led by Pallinghurst Resources, a company backed by former BHP Billiton Ltd chief executive Brian Gilbertson.

Pallinghurst is offering $3.30 cash for each ConsMin share, well below ConsMin's current share price which closed 14 cents higher at $3.79.

Territory chairman Michael Keirnan said the independent expert's report confirmed the company's market valuation.

"Territory's fully funded offer is superior to that of Pallinghurst," Mr Kiernan said.

The iron ore miner said a number of milestones achieved by the company had increased the value of its bid, including the progression from explorer to producer, the increase in iron ore prices and an off-take agreement with commodities trader Noble Group.

ConsMin, which mines manganese and nickel in Western Australia, has recommended the Pallinghurst bid.