Mr. Usmanov buys 6.8 % stake in Aztec

Only a week after buying a 19.9 percent stake in Australian Mount Gibson Iron (Mt Gibson), Alisher Usmanov, the owner of the Russian iron ore and steel producer Metalloinvest Holding (Metalloinvest), has acquired a 6.9 percent stake in Aztec Resource Ltd (Aztec) for $23.3 million from Australian Royalties Corporation Ltd. Mt Gibson's hostile takeover offer for Aztec will end on Friday if it fails to secure at least a 50 percent stake in the company. So far, Mt Gibson has been able to secure only 42 percent. In an announcement to the stock exchange yesterday, Gallagher Holding - Mr. Usmanov's London-based investment company - said it would accept Mt Gibson's scrip offer for its Aztec holding only if the Aztec board reversed its position and recommended the bid to its shareholders.