(Adds further details about Nunavut's agreement with securities
regulators and adds update on Mary River development from
Baffinland.)
The battle over Canadian iron ore miner Baffinland Iron Ore
Mines Corp. (BIMGF, BIM.T) between global steel giant ArcelorMittal
(MT, MT.AE) and a minority shareholder group is set to continue, as
the minority group said Thursday it has satisfied the concerns of
securities regulators over the details of its counteroffer.
Privately owned Nunavut Iron Ore Acquisition Inc., which holds
10% of Baffinland's shares, said it agreed to refile its hostile
offer for Baffinland to include details of warrants, after the
Ontario Securities Commission said it would hold a hearing into
Nunavut's offer.
While ArcelorMittal is offering C$1.40 a share for Baffinland,
Nunavut Iron is offering C$1.45 a share, but for only 60% of shares
outstanding. The remaining shareholders would get 0.4 warrants for
each share, and a whole warrant would be exercisable for a share of
Baffinland stock at the C$1.45 a share exercise price.
The staff of the Ontario Securities Commission had been
concerned that the warrants hadn't been officially included in
Nunavut's offer.
Baffinland's board of directors continues to support
ArcelorMittal's offer; ArcelorMittal has said it doesn't intend to
raise its bid further.
Nunavut Iron said that it will refile its offer before Jan. 10,
and that under Ontario securities laws, the refiling will
effectively extend its offer by 10 days. ArcelorMittal's offer
expires on Jan. 10.
Separately, Baffinland said the cost of building a road to its
proposed Mary River mine site in Canada's northern territory of
Nunavut will likely be higher than analysts have estimated. It said
it won't release the results of a road feasibility study until
after Jan. 10. It also said that it expects to file its draft
environmental impact statement by mid-January and to complete the
full environmental process toward the end of 2012 or early 2013.
Baffinland expects the Mary River mine to produce 18 million metric
tons of iron ore a year over a mine life of 21 years.
-By Edward Welsch and Alex MacDonald, Dow Jones Newswires;
403-229-9095; edward.welsch@dowjones.com