African copper miner Discovery Metalshas rebuffed an initial takeover offer from Chinese private equity group Cathay Fortune, raising the stakes in the battle for control of the Australian-listed mining company.
Discovery Metals said yesterday that Cathay’s offer price of A$1.70 per share was “inadequate” but that the board would be willing to consider a new proposal from the Chinese group.
Cathay Fortune, a Shanghai-based private equity group controlled by billionaire Yu Yong, did not have any immediate response. A clerk in Cathay’s Shanghai office said that a team was still working on the deal, while a spokesperson in Australia said it was too soon to say what the company’s next step would be.