Time running out for Cleveland-Cliff
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., North Americas largest producer of iron ore pellets, has less than 24 hours to acquire 50% of the outstanding shares of Australias third-largest iron ore producer, Portman Ltd. Cliff disclosed that it had acquired 27.6% of Portmans outstanding shares by Monday morning, but the Ohio-based company must round up at least 50% of the shares by 6 a.m. EST on Tuesday, March 22. If Cliff fails to acquire the requisite shares, its bid for the Australian ore producer will fail. If Cliff is successful, the companys take over offer for Portman will be extended an additional two weeks as stipulated in Australian law. Cliffs original offer to Portman shareholders, announced on January 11th of this year, was a per-share price of AU$3.40 ($2.67). On March 1, 2005, Cliffs upped its offer to AU$3.85 ($3.03). Portman finished trading on Monday at AU$3.82 per share.