Gloucester shareholders yesterday rejected a $A391 million bid from Xstrata after Noble Group and AMCI built up blocking stakes to prevent a takeover.

Citigroup analyst Jonathon Battershill told ILN it was unlikely Xstrata would place a higher bid and given AMCI is generally seen as an asset trader, an offer from the private coal group was unlikely.

“There are numerous scenarios that could play out and the final scenario could be anybody but we continue to believe the best value proposition would be to merge with another junior coal producer,” Battershill said.

He said a merger between Gloucester and Resource Pacific would be a “win-win situation for all shareholders” and would form a company with a very solid export coal profile and significant growth options.

“Both companies are essentially single-mine operations so there would be some sort of economies of scale … if you put the two together you would get an instantaneous price to earnings rating for both companies,” he said.

In June, Resource Pacific managing director Paul Jury told ILN that future acquisitions were on the cards for the company, which owns the Newpac No. 1 longwall mine.

“We are very conscious of the ‘single mine’ risk and it is a strategic objective of the company to expand its operations into a multi-mine environment … we are seeking out opportunities that we believe we can add value to,” Jury said.

Donaldson Coal, which operates an opencut coal mine and has an underground project underway, is also a possible merger candidate as Noble Group is the majority owner.

“If something’s going to happen I believe it will be a merger between Resource Pacific and Gloucester or it’s going to be Noble using Gloucester as a vehicle to back all their assets in,” Battershill said.