(Adds details, share price)
March 26 (Reuters) - A consortium aiming to take copper
miner KAZ Minerals private has increased its bid by 9%
to 4.02 billion pounds ($5.5 billion) after minority
shareholders indicated they would reject earlier proposals for
being too low.
Nova Resources, led by KAZ Minerals chairman Oleg Novachuk
and Kazakh billionaire Vladimir Kim, has offered shareholders
850 pence in cash per share, up from an earlier offer of 780
pence, it said in a statement.
Including a special dividend, the offer - which Nova said
was its final bid - totals 869 pence per share.
KAZ's share price was up 3% at the open in London.
This is the second increase to the original October offer by
the group, after minority shareholders including RWC Partners
and Russia-based CFC Management, indicated they would vote
against the proposals because of a strong rise in copper prices.
"We continue to believe the KAZ business is worth at least
our 920 pence target price, but the increased offer is likely to
test shareholder resolve to hold out further," Peel Hunt
analysts said in a note.
Under UK takeover rules, the group had until today to revise
the bid. If accepted, the offer will put an end to the company's
16-year listing on the London stock market.
The consortium said on Friday that a high-risk strategy
required a number of years of heavy capital investment with
curtailed prospects for a reliable dividend stream.
KAZ Minerals bought the Baimskaya mine, a big copper deposit
in eastern Russia, in 2018 from a group of investors including
Chelsea soccer club owner Roman Abramovich for around $1
billion.
The company's share price plunged immediately after the
announcement of this acquisition, hit by investor concern over
Russian political risk, even though the mine is regarded as one
of the world's most significant underdeveloped copper prospects.
Shareholders have until April 9 to accept the offer.
($1 = 0.7274 pounds)
(Reporting by Clara Denina in London and Chris Thomas in
Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Mark Potter)
