China Minmetals Group (五礦集團), China’s biggest trader of metals, had its A$2.6 billion (US$1.8 billion) takeover offer for OZ Minerals Ltd blocked by Australia because of the proximity of a mine to a weapons testing site.
The Woomera weapons testing range “makes a unique and sensitive contribution to Australia’s national defense,” Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan said today in an e-mailed statement.
The deal can’t be approved if it includes the Prominent Hill mine, though the government will study alternative proposals, he said.
Australian lawmakers last week voted to begin an inquiry into investment by foreign state-owned companies and sovereign funds after a backlash over the Minmetals bid and Aluminum Corp of China’s (Chinalco, 中國鋁業) planned A$19.5 billion funding of Rio Tinto Group.
The offer from Minmetals and Rio’s deal with Chinalco is part of US$22 billion in investments announced by Chinese state-owned companies last month as the world’s biggest buyer of metals sought to capitalize on a plunge in the value of mines.
OZ Minerals, halted from trading on the Australian stock exchange yesterday, last traded at US$0.555 on Wednesday. Minmetals has offered US$0.825 a share for the company. Melbourne-based OZ Minerals plunged 84 percent last year as metal prices slumped and debt levels rose.
Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) extended its probe of the takeover by Minmetals by as long as 90 days from last Tuesday, OZ Minerals said this week.
“OZ Minerals is now in discussion with Minmetals regarding possible changes to the proposed transaction structure in light of the Treasurer’s statement and will make a further announcement in this regard as soon as possible,” chief executive officer Andrew Michelmore said in a statement to the exchange.
“Minmetals remains in discussions with FIRB,” Ian Smith, an Adelaide-based outside spokesman for the Chinese company, said in an e-mailed statement. “Our focus is on delivering an agreed solution to OZ Minerals that meets national interests, can satisfy lenders, deliver stability to employees and protect existing operations.”
BHP spokeswoman Samantha Evans was not immediately able to be contacted.
“Discussions between the Foreign Investment Review Board and Minmetals are continuing in relation to OZ Minerals’ other businesses and assets,” Swan said. “The government is willing to consider alternative proposals relating to those other assets and businesses.”
Woomera, about the size of England, is the largest land-locked missile-testing range in the world and previously included testing for nuclear weapons, its Web site said.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘ARMED GROUP’: Two defendants used Chinese funds to form the ‘Republic of China Taiwan Military Government,’ posing a threat to national security, prosecutors said A retired lieutenant general has been charged after using funds from China to recruit military personnel for an “armed” group that would assist invading Chinese forces, prosecutors said yesterday. The retired officer, Kao An-kuo (高安國), was among six people indicted for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法), the High Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. The group visited China multiple times, separately and together, from 2018 to last year, where they met Chinese military intelligence personnel for instructions and funding “to initiate and develop organizations for China,” prosecutors said. Their actions posed a “serious threat” to “national security and social stability,” the statement
NATURAL INTERRUPTION: As cables deteriorate, core wires snap in progression along the cable, which does not happen if they are hit by an anchor, an official said Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) immediately switched to a microwave backup system to maintain communications between Taiwan proper and Lienchiang County (Matsu) after two undersea cables malfunctioned due to natural deterioration, the Ministry of Digital Affairs told an emergency news conference yesterday morning. Two submarine cables connecting Taiwan proper and the outlying county — the No. 2 and No. 3 Taiwan-Matsu cables — were disconnected early yesterday morning and on Wednesday last week respectively, the nation’s largest telecom said. “After receiving the report that the No. 2 cable had failed, the ministry asked Chunghwa Telecom to immediately activate a microwave backup system, with
RSS