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- ASX-listed Oz Minerals (OZL) accepts a new and improved takeover bid from mining giant BHP (BHP) through a proposed scheme of arrangement
- BHP initially proposed to acquire OZL for $25 per share back in August, but OZ Minerals rejected the proposal, claiming the offer undervalued the business and wasn’t in its shareholders’ best interests
- BHP has come back with its “best and final price” of $28.25 per share, which represents a 13 per cent increase to its original offer and values OZ Minerals at $9.6 billion
- OZ Minerals has confirmed its intention to unanimously recommend the revised proposal to its shareholders and will now grant BHP four weeks to complete due diligence
- BHP shares are up 0.41 per cent to trade at $43.98 and OZL shares are up 3.95 per cent to trade at $27.34 at 3:56 pm AEDT
ASX-listed Oz Minerals (OZL) has accepted a new and improved takeover bid from mining giant BHP (BHP) through a proposed scheme of arrangement
The mining big-cap originally submitted a non-binding indicative proposal to the board of OZ Minerals at the start of August, claiming that combining their assets, skills and expertise would provide a unique opportunity.
BHP initially proposed to acquire all of OZ Minerals’ shares for a cash consideration of $25 per share, which represented a 32.1 per cent premium at the time to OZL’s last closing price.
While BHP thought it to be a “compelling offer”, the board of OZ Minerals rejected the proposal, claiming the offer undervalued it and was not in the best interest of its shareholders.
Now, the mining giant has come back with a new offer that represents the “best and final price” it’s willing to offer under the revised proposal.
BHP is now offering to acquire OZ Minerals for $28.25 per share, which corresponds to an enterprise value of $9.6 billion. This marks a 13 per cent increase to BHP’s original offer.
It also represents a “significant and attractive” premium of 49.3 per cent to OZL’s closing price of $18.92 per share on August 5, being the last trading day prior to the initial proposal.
The OZL board has confirmed its intention to unanimously recommend the revised proposal to its shareholders.
OZ Minerals Chair Rebecca McGrath said the revised proposal would see the company secure roughly $1.1 billion more than the original proposal.
“It is the board’s view that progressing the revised proposal, including providing BHP with access to due diligence, is in the best interests of OZ Minerals’ shareholders and other stakeholders,” Ms McGrath said.
OZ Minerals has granted BHP four weeks to complete due diligence and negotiate a binding scheme implementation agreement reflecting the key terms of the new proposal.
BHP shares were up 0.41 per cent to trade at $43.98 and OZL shares were up 3.95 per cent to trade at $27.34 at 3:56 pm AEDT
