MARKETS

Austral gives thumbs up to Centennial merger

AUSTRAL Coal directors yesterday gave the go-ahead to Centennial Coal’s $300 million scrip offer, with the merger likely to proceed within the next two months.

Angie Tomlinson

"The merger has been endorsed by the Austral board in the absence of a higher offer and is expected to proceed over the next two months," Austral said.

Centennial Coal originally made the offer one week ago, offering Austral shareholders 10 Centennial shares for every 37 Austral shares, equating to an offer of $1.10 per Austral share.

The merger will lift Centennial's exposure to the lucrative coking coal export market.

Austral reported a net loss of $30.26 million for the year ending December 31, 2004, blaming its loss on operational problems since the new longwall was installed in April last year.

TOPICS:

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Future Fleets Report 2024

The report paints a picture of the equipment landscape and includes detailed profiles of mines that are employing these fleets

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Digitalisation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations that use digitalisation technology to drive improvements across all areas of mining production

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Automation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations using autonomous solutions in every region and sector, including analysis of the factors driving investment decisions

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Exploration Report 2023 (feat. Opaxe data)

A comprehensive review of current exploration rates, trending exploration technologies, a ranking of top drill intercepts and a catalogue of 2022 Initial Resource Estimates and recent discovery successes.