(Adds context on deal, prior bids)
Feb 5 (Reuters) - Japan's Mitsui & Co <8031.T> won a three-way bidding war to take over Australia's AWE Ltd (AWE), after rival bidder Mineral Resources failed to match Mitsui's offer.
The Australian gas producer said in a statement that it had entered into a bid implementation deed with Mitsui for its proposed $480 million dollar takeover.
AWE on Monday recommended that shareholders accept Mitsui's all cash offer of A$0.95 a share, and reject rival bidder China Energy Reserve and Chemicals Group's bid of A$0.73 a share.
Mitsui's offer, which represents a premium of 74.3 percent to the undistributed AWE share price, marks the first full takeover bid by the Japanese trading giant for an Australian company and will make it the operator of a gas field for the first time, bolstering its credentials to bid on other gas assets.
"The Mitsui proposal, pitched at a significant premium to the competing offers, represented a superior value proposition," Chairman Ken Williams said.
State-owned China Energy Reserve and Chemicals Group (CERCG) also had bid for AWE last November, although its offer was later topped by Mineral Resources.
AWE had given Mineral Resources a deadline of Feb. 2 to match the Mitsui proposal, which was 14.5 percent above the offer made by Mineral Resources.
($1 = 1.2666 Australian dollars)
