Antofagasta Regulatory News (ANTO)

20 Apr 2006 08:52

Antofagasta PLC20 April 2006 For immediate release ANTOFAGASTA PLC Antofagasta reaches 51.77% interest in Tethyan shares and declares takeover offer unconditional 20 April 2006 Antofagasta PLC ("Antofagasta") is pleased to announce today that it has reacheda relevant interest in Tethyan Copper Company Limited ("Tethyan") shares of51.77%. Accordingly, Antofagasta's recommended takeover offer for Tethyan hasnow been declared unconditional. The Board of Tethyan unanimously recommends that all shareholders accept theAntofagasta offer. In addition, Tethyan has confirmed that each of the Tethyandirectors will shortly be accepting the Antofagasta offer for all of the Tethyanshares they own or control. Commenting on the offer, Marcelo Awad, CEO of Antofagasta Minerals S.A., stated,"We believe our offer represents a very attractive price for Tethyanshareholders and is supported by a unanimous recommendation from the TethyanBoard. Our offer is now unconditional and scheduled to close on 28 April 2006. Iwould therefore encourage all remaining Tethyan shareholders to accept the offerwithout delay." Antofagasta, through its wholly owned subsidiary Atacama Copper Pty Limited("Atacama") has also agreed to pay brokers a handling fee for acceptances theyinitiate in respect of certain Tethyan shareholders. Further details will beprovided in Atacama's third supplementary bidder's statement to be lodged at theAustralian Stock Exchange today. Rothschild is advising Antofagasta in relation to this transaction. Enquiries - London Enquiries - Santiago Antofagasta PLC Antofagasta Minerals S.A. Tel: +44 20 7808 0988 Alejandro Rivera www.antofagasta.co.uk Tel: +56 2 377 5145 Email: arivera@aminerals.cl Desmond O'Conor Email: doconor@antofagasta.co.uk Enquiries - Australia Bankside Consultants N M Rothschild & Sons (Australia) Ltd (financial advisers) Tel: +44 20 7367 8873 Tel: +61 2 9323 2000 Mob: +44 7885 356 639 Marshall Baillieu Chris Forman Keith Irons Email: keith@bankside.com Jackson Wells Morris (public relations advisers) Tel: +61 2 9904 4333 Benjamin Haslem Jakob Webster This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange