takeover , page-6

This is from the australian his morning.

TONY Haggarty's Whitehaven Coal may have attracted 20 interested parties to the initial phase of its auction, but when the company's advisers get down to tallying the first-round offers due last night they will probably find only a handful of bidders can seriously pull off the $3.5 billion-plus deal.
Bidders from China, Korea, India and the US have been touted as potential buyers; and as a rare "independent" entity in coal without an offshore miner or customer on its register, Whitehaven is certainly attractive.

Of course, the likes of US group Peabody Energy and China's biggest coalminer, Shenhua Group, and Yanzhou Coal Mining, which bought Felix Resources with the advice of UBS in 2009 for $3.2bn, have taken a look.

However, Whitehaven lost one suitor in Alpha Natural Resources last week when the US group announced it would buy rival Massey Energy for $US7.1bn, while doubts linger over another touted bidder, the company's joint venture partner in the Narrabri North mine, Korea Resources Corporation.

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While more than one Chinese buyer has so far shown interest, the reality is there will only be one bidder from China, given the way the government approvals work in that country.

The bids due to be submitted last night were at the "non-binding and indicative" stage so there's still a little way to go before the list is properly whittled down.

The smart money is on a Chinese buyout of the company.

The good news for shareholders is that the sale of Whitehaven, which has been anticipated almost since the day Excel Coal vendors Tony Haggarty and Andy Plummer listed the company, is finally gathering some momentum.'

I think the smarter money will come from India over $10!