this waiting around is killing me!, page-2

Tata Steel Raises Riversdale Stake Amid Rio Tinto Bid

( By Robb M. Stewart
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

MELBOURNE (Dow Jones)--Riversdale Mining Ltd.'s (RIV.AU) largest shareholder has
lifted its stake in the Africa-focused coal company, ensuring it and the next-largest
shareholder have a strong say in Rio Tinto PLC's (RIO) proposed 3.9 billion
Australian dollar ($3.94 billion) takeover.
The creeping investment by India's Tata Steel Ltd. (500470.BY), which together
with Brazilian steelmaker Cia. Siderurgica Nacional (SID) now own a 47% voting stake in
Riversdale, suggests a slow take-up for Rio Tinto's offer. The Anglo-Australian
mining company has twice extended the deadline for its bid, last week moving it to March
18.
............People familiar with the offer said it is likely Tata and CSN are ensuring they play a
key role in the takeover discussions and may even be pushing for an improvement on the
A$16 a share offered by Rio Tinto............
In a letter to Riversdale, released to the Australian securities exchange Wednesday,
Tata said it had raised its stake in the company 2.9 percentage points to 27.1%. CSN has
also raised its stake, in February taking it to 19.9%. Rio Tinto Tuesday said its
interest in Riversdale and acceptances for its offer had risen to 16.9% from 15.9% in
mid-February.
Rio Tinto has said its bid is subject to it securing more than 50% of Riversdale's
shares. Riversdale has said its directors have all recommended Rio Tinto's offer
"in the absence of a superior proposal," although N.K. Misra had given his okay
for the tie-up only as a nominee director of Riversdale and not as head of mergers and
acquisitions at Tata.
Tata last week said it hadn't made a decision on its stake in Riversdale, and a
spokesman Wednesday declined to comment other than to say the holding was considered
strategic by the steel company. A spokesman for Riversdale declined to comment, and
spokesmen for Rio Tinto in Melbourne weren't immediately available when contacted.
The interest shown in Riversdale, which has a coal mine in South Africa and is
developing two major coal projects in neighboring Mozambique, highlights global appetite
for the fuel. Tata has a 35% stake in Riversdale's Benga project, ensuring coal
supplies for its steel operations, and Wuhan Iron & Steel Co. (600005.SH) last year
agreed to buy a 40% interest in its Zambeze project for a similar percentage of coking
coal produced.
Tata and CSN are now forbidden by Australian listing rules from raising their stakes
further for six months without launching a formal offer. At 0305 GMT, Riversdale's
shares were trading 3.2% lower at A$15.00, outpacing a decline in the wider market.