Jindal Steel raises stake in Australian mining firm

Jindal Steel & Power Ltd has stepped up acquisition of stake in an Australian coking coal mining company controlled by Gujarat NRE Coke.

So far, JSPL has acquired 29 per cent stake in Gujarat NRE Coking Coal Ltd through its arm JSPL (Australia) Pty Ltd. JSPL has already extended a time frame for its ongoing takeover bid by a fortnight till March 29. According to Brisbane-located law firm HopgoodGanim, JSPL’s voting rights in the target company on Friday stood at 28.79 per cent. Before the offer was opened on February, JSPL had a 19.48 per cent stake in Gujarat NRE Coking Coal.

According to Gujarat NRE Coking Coal claims, the directors and major shareholders control 64.1 per cent in company.

The company has Arun Kumar Jagatramka (Executive Chairman), Mona Jagatramka (Non-Executive Director), Maurice Anghie (Independent Director) and Andrew Firek (Independent Director) as part of the senior management and directors.

JSPL, which buys coking coal from Gujarat NRE Coking Coal, announced its plans for acquisition of stake in the ASX-listed target company in a bidder’s statement on January 31 this year. Gujarat NRE Coking Coal is an Australian metallurgical coal asset subsidiary of Kolkata-registered Gujarat NRE Coke.

In February, Gujarat NRE Coking Coal had asked the public shareholders to reject the JSPL offer on grounds that the share prices on ASX went beyond the offer price and said it undervalued the shares without reflecting the future prospects. The JSPL offer price for a share is A$0.20.

> jayanta.mallick@thehindu.co.in

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