Yesterday, Banpu reached a 97.99% stake in the New South Wales thermal coal producer through its $A6.20 per share cash takeover offer.

The Thai company was already in a position to trigger compulsory acquisition of the remaining Centennial shares last week.

The $2 billion takeover of Centennial leaves Australia with a handful of independent coal producers.

This makes coal explorers more vulnerable to takeover offers, especially as coal has been one of the best performing commodities since the global financial crisis.

Queensland coal producer New Hope launched a $193 million cash offer to acquire Northern Energy Corporation at $1.50 per share last week.

Centennial shares are down 3c to $6.09 this morning.