Under the conditions of the bid, Banpu can withdraw its $6.20 per share offer for Centennial if the Australian dollar exchange rate exceeds US97c for two consecutive days after the Thai company gains a majority shareholding.

Banpu’s takeover must meet a 50.1% minimum acceptance condition and this morning it announced that it had in fact gained 53.73% of the company.

This was made up of its initial 19.89% interest in Centennial, with the remainder being acceptances to the takeover offer.

A spokesperson for Centennial Coal today confirmed to ILN that if the Australian dollar rose above the US97c level for more than two days it could compromise the deal.

The Australian dollar opened this morning above US95c for the first time in 25 months, following signs that the US Federal Reserve is ready to further stimulate the US economy with quantitative easing.

Some analysts and industry figures are now predicting that the “Aussie” is now headed for parity with the US dollar, being driven by the resources boom and higher exports of coal and iron ore.

Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Andrew Forrest expects parity to be reached “shortly” and Westpac chief currency strategist Robert Rennie said the dollar would continue to rise if Australia’s economy kept growing ahead of other developed nations.

Banpu has extended its offer – which was due to expire on September 27 – to a final date of October 5.

Detailed in the minutes of Banpu’s shareholder meeting held last month, the Thai company revealed it had spent a total of $380 million to gain the 19.9% stake in Centennial in the two months before its July 5 takeover offer.

Banpu aims to export at least 40 million tonnes per annum in the Asia-Pacific region by the end of 2015.

The company holds a total of $US2.6 billion in cash reserves and credit facility finance to fund the Centennial takeover.

Centennial shares were up 1c to $6.17 this morning.