UPDATE 1-Norilsk board votes to raise LionOre offer -reportWed...

UPDATE 1-Norilsk board votes to raise LionOre offer -report
Wed May 23, 2007 1:05AM EDT
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GMKN (Mining & Metallurgical Co Norilsk Nickel)
Last: $192.80
Change: -1.70 (-0.87%)
Revenue (ttm): 185 530,1ð.M
EPS: 293.33
Market Cap: 833 761,10ð.M
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Norilsk board votes to raise LionOre offer -report
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MOSCOW, May 23 (Reuters) - The board of Norilsk Nickel (GMKN.MM: Quote, Profile, Research has voted to raise its offer for Canadian miner LionOre (LIM.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Vedomosti newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed source close to the Russian nickel producer.

Norilsk said last week it would decide whether to continue the chase for LionOre after London-listed Xstrata Ltd. (XTA.L: Quote, Profile, Research raised its offer for LionOre, the world's 10th-largest nickel producer.

Xstrata offered C$6.2 billion ($5.6 billion), trumping a bid of C$5.3 billion ($4.8 billion) made by Norilsk on May 3. But the Xstrata offer also included a break fee of C$305 million payable to Xstrata if LionOre accepted a rival bid.

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Vedomosti said the board voted 8-1 in favour of a revised offer, with only billionaire co-owner Mikhail Prokhorov, who is selling his share to partner Vladimir Potanin, voting against. Its source declined to give the size of the new bid.

A Norilsk Nickel spokesman contacted by Reuters declined to comment on the report.

Norilsk, which mines a fifth of the world's nickel and is the world's largest palladium miner, has a market capitalisation of $36.1 billion.

It would become the world's first 300,000-tonne-plus producer of nickel should it acquire LionOre, whose 2007 forecast output of 40,000 tonnes is expected to double by 2012.


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