Bidco, the wholly owned Australian subsidiary of Guangdong Rising Asset Management, struck a preliminary in-principle agreement to acquire Caledon at £12 a share back in November.

Chinese regulatory approvals were expected by the end of February, but have not yet been received.

“GRAM has been working very hard with the Chinese regulatory authorities during February and is confident the approval process is in its final stages,” GRAM chairman Li Jinming said on Friday.

Meanwhile, Caledon made a net loss of $11.8 million for the second half of 2010, which included the impact of a $3.5 million accounting charge relating to convertible notes.

But the Bowen Basin coal producer also made a return to gross profit in the half, notching up $2.1 million compared to a $4 million gross loss in the second half of 2009.

Run-of-mine production at the Cook underground coking and thermal coal mine in Queensland reached 169,800 tonnes in the weather-impacted December quarter, down 8.7% from the previous quarter.

Caledon shares are up 2c to $1.595 this morning.