Jindal extends offer for Gujarat NRE Coking Coal

Jindal Steel has extended its cash offer for all of Gujarat NRE Coking Coal’s shares for two weeks, the company said in a statement on Friday March 8.

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The Indian steelmaker made the unconditional on-market takeover bid for Gujarat shares at A$0.20 ($0.20) each at the end of January in a move to boost its participation in the Australian coking coal industry.

The offer period was originally set to close at 4pm Sydney time on March 15 but has now been extended to 4pm Sydney time on March 29, according to the statement.

The coking coal producer, however, has urged its shareholders to reject the takeover proposal as it said the bidding price undervalued the company.

Gujarat shares reached a high of A$0.23 each earlier in February but are trading at A$0.20 per share at the time of writing.

The miner produced 186,000 tonnes of run-of-mine coal during the December 2012 quarter, down from 544,000 tonnes in the previous quarter. The company aims to increase output to 5 million tpy by 2016.