CBH Resources confirmed today it has received a sweetened takeover offer from Belgium's Nyrstar NV, which has increased its previous offer by $65 million.
CBH Resources confirmed today it has received a sweetened takeover offer from Belgium's Nyrstar NV, which has increased its previous offer by $65 million.
CBH, which operates mines in Western Australia and NSW, had earlier today placed its shares in a trading halt, pending further details regarding a potential "change of control transaction".
Hours after the halt, CBH advised that it had received a proposal from refining major Nystar, which had in December revealed it would pay 13.5 cents for each CBH shares, valuing the target at $148 million.
This time around, Nystar said it will pay 19.5c cash for each CBH shares, valuing the offer at $213 million.
In December Nyrstar had proposed a scheme of arrangement that valued each CBH share at 13.5c each.
In January, CBH told the stock exchange it had ceased talks with Nyrstar in favour of a binding $67.5 million deal with its 23 per cent shareholder, Japan's Toho Zinc.
Under that deal, Toho will pay $57.5 million for a half share in the Rasp zinc-lead project in Broken Hill and $10 million for an extra 50 million shares at 20 cents each, increasing its stake to 31 per cent.
CBH shareholders were due to meet at the end of this month to vote on Toho's offer, however CBH today said it would advise as soon as possible whether that meeting will proceed.
"The CBH Board intends to provide a preliminary response to Nystar in respect of the revised proposal early next week, and has appointed a committee of the directors independent of Toho to consider the terms of the response," CBH said today.
Shares in CBH have since been released from the trading halt and jumped four cents, or 29 per cent, to close at 18c today.
At the centre of both proposals is CBH's Rasp zinc-lead development, which was shelved in late 2008 when markets headed south and CBH's friendly bid for Broken Hill neighbour Perilya turned sour.
Nyrstar today argued that its proposal provided certainty for the Rasp development as the Toho proposal was unclear as to how CBH would fund its 50 per cent share of the capital cost.
At the end of December 2009, CBH reported that it had $47.1 million cash on hand.
CBH had previously estimated the Rasp processing plant would alone cost about $65 million.
