australia to boost scrutiny of mining deals

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKSYD1880620080704

Australia to boost scrutiny of mining deals
By Victoria Thieberger and James Grubel

MELBOURNE, July 4 (Reuters) - Australia said it will increase scrutiny of investment from China and other foreign countries in mining companies, particularly when the investor is also a major customer or government entity seeking a majority stake.

Treasurer Wayne Swan, who must approve major foreign investments, said on Friday Australia needed to make sure that Australian companies remained reliable suppliers to all current and potential trading partners.

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"If you were considering making a multibillion dollar bid for an Australian resource company at the moment, you might look at that and think twice," said Tom Elliott, managing director of hedge fund MM&E Capital.

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But [Swan] said the government would be "particularly attentive" when a foreign investor in an Australian resource company was also a consumer of the resource.

"Our predisposition is to more carefully consider proposals by consumers to control existing producing firms," he told the Australia-China Business Council.

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"Chinese investment in this country is very welcome... but we will certainly examine very carefully any proposal from anywhere in the world where a buyer (of a resource) will seek to buy a producer," Swan told reporters after the speech.