now 4.30 on market, page-2

Gilbertson presses on
Brian Gilbertson isn't a man who gives up easily, as those who did business with him when he ran Gencor and subsequently Billiton in SA found. He may have made one premature exit from Australia, and BHP-Billiton, but he's determined not to be thwarted on his bid for a re-entry through manganese, chromite and nickel miner Consolidated Minerals (ConsMin). While his original Aussie rival, Territory Resources (led by ousted ConsMin CEO Michael Kiernan) has pulled out, the mysterious Ukrainians, whose vehicle is called Palmary Enterprises, came in a week ago with a cash bid of A$3.95 a share, valuing ConsMin at A$902m and trumping Gilbertson's A$3.60. So now Gilbertson's back with A$4.10 cash, equivalent to A$937m, and once again got the approval of the ConsMin board, which had switched its earlier backing of him in favour of the Ukrainians - as indeed it was bound to, for the good of general shareholders. When there are two all-cash bids, it's almost impossible for a board to recommend acceptance of the lower. When I spoke to Gilbertson in London recently, he bewailed the time it was taking for finality in the ConsMin situation. It'll obviously now take a little longer, and there's nothing to prevent the Ukrainians from improving their offer. Where will all this end? The bids are now valuing ConsMin at close to the three times what the market thought it was worth barely a year ago. Are we reaching a stage where pride is taking over from real value as the bidders' motivating force? I don't suppose ConsMin shareholders care; as long as bids keep rising, they'll be in no hurry for finality. But the continuing uncertainty can't be doing the company much good.