Minmetals

Minmetals announces plans to launch a takeover of Equinox Minerals to gain control of copper mines in Zambia and Saudi Arabia, in the largest hostile bid by a Chinese company to date.

The Chinese property company upsizes in full, but prices at the bottom as investors are clearly becoming more price sensitive. In a separate deal, an existing shareholder sells $65 million worth of shares in Wumart.

Minmetals' enhanced $1.4 billion offer for identified Oz Minerals assets finds favour with the company's shareholders who approve the deal.

Chinese acquirers move steadily ahead in their pursuit of Australian natural resources companies, creating a healthy pool of fees for investment banks advising on these deals.

The state-owned Chinese firm will pay Australian miner Oz Minerals $1.2 billion for a defined set of assets that excludes the sensitive Prominent Hill mine.

Valin's investment in Fortescue is approved, paving the way for the Chinalco-Rio Tinto deal, while Minmetals prepares a revised proposal to take over Oz Minerals.

After Chinalco's deal with Rio Tinto, another Australian metals company turns to a Chinese buyer to resolve pressing debt issues. Regulators have yet to bless either deal.

The deal accounts for one-fifth of the total market cap and prices with a conversion premium of 30%.