Yes...my apologies...my skimming of the announcement missed...

Yes...my apologies...my skimming of the announcement missed clause 7 that refers to the requirements. That does definitely limit the potential for a competing bid. However, the market clearly still expects RIO will have to raise its offer to achieve success, and a competing bid is not out of the question.

My point originally was that the securing of only 14.9% of the existing significant shareholders suggests to me that most major holders are unlikely sellers at the current price, and or, parties like Tata or CSN (who already control 40%) could be competitors to RIO and might already be in possession of the requisite data to make a competing offer. I would have expected that if they were only interested in supply agreements then that would have been agreed with RIO by now and the deal would have been totally sewn up. Institutions and corporates dominate the register and will decide the outcome.

regards
DF