Felix may announce takeover suitor soon August 11, 2009 - 3:59PM Felix Resources Ltd may be a step closer to announcing a takeover suitor after reports it is in takeover talks with China's fourth largest coal miner Yanzhou Coal.
The Brisbane-based coal miner has not confirmed the reports, but has been in a trading suspension since Monday pending the outcome of talks "regarding a potential change of control transaction".
Yanzhou Coal's shares are also suspended from trading on Hong Kong's stock exchange.
The trading suspension is expected to last up to five days but a Felix spokesman told AAP on Tuesday he was uncertain whether it would be lifted earlier given reports from China claiming the parties had agreed to a potential takeover.
"There is no further clarity on timing (of the announcement)," the Felix spokesman told AAP.
Australian and Chinese news reports have posited that any acquisition price for Felix could be between $3.5 billion and $3.7 billion, or just under $20 a share.
It would make it the largest takeover of an Australian company by a partially state-owned Chinese firm.
The last similar deal was Sinosteel Corporation's $1.36 billion takeover of iron ore miner Midwest Corporation in July 2008.
Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board may not prove a major hurdle to Yanzhou Coal, given the company bought the Southland colliery in NSW's Hunter Valley for $31 million in late 2004.
The reports from China suggest Yanzhou Coal may need to issue additional shares to raise funds for the transaction.
Felix said in June it had been in talks with several potential suitors for the prior 12 months.
Any recommendation of an offer by Felix's board would come close to handing immediate control of the miner to its suitor because three Felix directors, Travers Duncan, Brian Flannery and Hans Mende, hold almost 50 per cent of the stock.
Mr Duncan and Mr Flannery were the wealthiest debutants on the 2008 BRW magazine Rich 200 list.
The executives were each worth $991 million in May last year.
Felix shares hit a 12-month low of $4.67 on December 2 and a high of $20.40 on August 25.
They last traded at $16.90.
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