Thailand's Banpu buys 14.99pc stake in Centennial Coal
THAILAND coal operator Banpu has emerged as the mystery buyer of Centennial Coal stock, taking a 14.99 per cent "strategic stake" in the Sydney miner.
Centennial shares jumped 25 per cent in early trade after it noted the "special crossings" of 39.48 million shares at $5 -- a 25 per cent premium to yesterdays closing price of $3.99 but said it was unaware of the identity of the buyer.
Centennial shares have since cooled to $4.79 after reaching the $5 crossing price, believed to be handled by JP Morgan, earlier in the day.
The trade represented 10 per cent of Centennials about 394 billion shares on issue, putting the value of the trade at almost $200m.
About 62.9 million Centennial shares had swapped hands by 2:40pm AEST, meaning Banpu has possibly topped up its stake to 14.99 per cent during the day.
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Centennial could not be reached for comment, but sources said this morning the unknown buyer planned to increase its stake to the 15 per cent Foreign Investment Review Board limit.
The move comes amidst analyst fears of reduced overseas investment in Australian miners due to the Rudd government's proposed "super tax" unveiled Sunday as part of the Henry tax review.
US coal giant Peabody Energy spooked the market on Monday when it said it was assessing the impact of the proposed tax on its $4.1 billion takeover bid for Queensland miner Macarthur Coal.
Peabody, the world's dominant producer of coal for use in blast furnaces, has told Macarthur that it is working through the impact'' of the tax plans on its $16-a-share bid for Australia's biggest coal exporter.
Macarthur shares also rose about 3.5 per cent in early trade to $14.15.
Separately, JP Morgan this morning also became a substantial holder of Perth miner Cape Lambert Resources after snapping up a 5.04 per cent stake on Tuesday.
REY Price at posting:
13.5¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
