Shanxi Province-based Chinese coking enterprise Meijin Energy Group has made a A$435 million ($457 million) bid for Australia-based diversified miner Western Desert Resources Ltd, according to the Economic and Commercial Counselor’s Office of the Embassy of China in Australia. The offer of A$1.08 per share indicates a 26 percent premium to Western Desert's last closing price.
According to the office, before a successful acquisition, Mejin Energy should get approval of Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) as well as Chinese government. Both parties agreed to completed the transaction on March 31, 2013 at the latest.
Meijin Energy, the largest commercial coke producer in China, is currently developing a 4.2 billion mt coal project in the Galilee basin of Queensland state, Australia, with large scale production estimated to start in 2016.