anglo interest

From todays Australian:

Anglo American sees value in coal too

AS all eyes focus on that other coal deal, it's worth noting that Anglo American is thought to have made a late entry into the $1 billion-plus auction for coal play Bandanna Energy.

It is understood that Anglo American has joined offshore bidders including India's Aditya Birla, JSW Steel and Jindal Steel in the second round of the UBS-advised sale process.

The key issue is whether Bandanna is sold as a whole or in pieces. UBS kicked off the process back in February, calling for expressions of interest on three fronts: 100 per cent of Bandanna's interest in any of its development projects, minority equity interest in the development projects, and a change of control transaction at a group level.

The company has 1.48 billion tonnes of JORC-compliant coal resources in exploration projects in Queensland's Bowen and Galilee basins, but it needs capital to fund their development.

Final bids are due towards the end of this month. The miner, which has five projects in the Galilee and Bowen basins at advanced stages of evaluation, has been valued at $1.4 billion by Wilson HTM.