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.
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.