In the case of the Europeans there was an interesting sentence...

In the case of the Europeans there was an interesting sentence or two in the AFR's coverage of the 13.5c offer at the time saying that CBH and Nyrstar hadn't had any contact since the offer was made public and that they weren't even on speaking terms.Even if the Christmas - New Year period was largely to blame for that I still find it interesting that they wouldn't have their channels of communication open.

In any case it is now irrelevant because TOHO have made their move and Nyrstar have missed out. As backed up by today's announcement major Japanese companies don't muck around and a takeover from Nyrstar will never get off the ground with TOHO as the major shareholder.

Japanese companies in the natural resources realm don't go to all the effort, trouble and expense of setting themselves up to secure a steady supply of natural resources to just throw it all away by agreeing to competitors' takeover offers, it just defeats the whole purpose of their business operations and existence yet alone when you consider the geo-political environment such Japanese companies operate in. CBH's resources have great strategic long-term importance and significance to TOHO and Japan as a whole. Remember having access to Australia's natural resources are not a luxury for the Japanese, they're a necessity.