Western Australian iron ore mining firm Atlas Iron has given Mineral Resources until 21 June to match a takeover bid from Australian entrepreneur Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting, reports Argus Media.
Atlas' board of directors said that the Hancock offer of AUS 4.2¢ for each Atlas share is superior to the previous offer from Mineral Resources and has given Mineral Resources until 21 June to match it. Mineral Resources has offered one of its share for 571 Atlas shares, which equates to around AUS 2.9¢ per Atlas share at Mineral Resources' opening share price of AUS$16.40 (AUS$12.10).
Atlas is struggling to remain profitable because of the large discounts applied to its lower grade ore, but has attracted takeover interest because of its 15 million tpy export allocation at Port Hedland. Australian iron ore mining firm Fortescue Metals has also acquired 19.9% of Atlas but has not made a direct bid for control of the firm.