Russia's Norilsk Nickel Buys LionOre

| Tuesday July 3, 2007 00:00

 

'Norilsk Nickel, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, has taken up all of the LionOre shares that were deposited to the offer,' Norilsk Nickel said in a statement.  'This addition to the group brings growth in nickel, further diversifies our international presence and will generate important synergy contributions to Norilsk Nickel's long term development,' Norilsk Nickel's Chairman Denis Morozov said in the statement. 

The announcement comes after Norilsk Nickel made an improved offer equal to $6.4 billion (4.75 billion euros) or about P39.7 billion for the company on May 23, offering around 10 percent more than rival Anglo-Swiss group Xstrata.
Norilsk Nickel has prolonged its offer to acquire the remaining shares until July 10, Friday's statement said.

LionOre is an international gold and nickel producer with operations in Australia, Botswana and South Africa. (AFP)