Elsewhere, as Sichuan Hanlong Group and Sundance Resources prepare to kick off formal discussions over the Chinese bidder's 50c-a-share cash offer valuing the company at $1.4bn, remember that what Hanlong is bidding for is the right to negotiate with the Cameroon and Congo governments.
Buying Sundance will give Hanlong control of the $4.7bn Mbalam iron ore mine, port and railroad project, which straddles the border of the two African nations, and details are yet to be negotiated with their governments. To that end, it's interesting that Cameroon President Paul Biya flew to China yesterday for a three-day visit.
Biya, who has been in power for 29 years, apparently wants to show Western powers the country can stand on its own two feet without their support, after three visits in June by envoys from presidents Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy and British PM David Cameron were perceived as threats to the state and the president, according to local media. China is involved in several economic projects in Cameroon, including hydroelectric dams in Lom Pangar, Menve'ele and Mekin and the Kribi deep sea port project, and Biya wants to highlight the economic co-operation between the two countries. The Sundance project is understood to be on the agenda for discussion.
