Caledon Resources no longer under offer, bid withdrawn

Shares in Caledon Resources (LON:CDN, ASX:CCD) tumbled on news the group broke off talks with would-be bidders.
The Australian coking coal producer has been involved in a series of takeover negotiations this year.
Discussions started in April with 25 per cent shareholder Polo Resources (LON:POL), though they eventually collapsed.

Last month Caledon told investors it received "a number of unsolicited and indicative enquiries from third parties in respect of possible alternative transactions".

At that point the company described negotiations at being at an “early stage”, though one of the putative offers placed a price tag on the business of 68p a share, or £153 million.

The deal was also characterised as “highly conditional” and “significantly undervaluing” the group - and therefore unlikely to receive boardroom support.

Today the firm told investors: “Caledon has since been advised that the indicative offer has been withdrawn.”

It brings to a close an uncertain period in the recent history of the AIM and ASX listed Aussie miner, which in 2009 also held abortive bid talks with firms from China and India.

By midday the shares were down 12.5 per cent at 42p, though they were well off their session lows.

Caledon’s flagship project is the formerly mothballed Cook mine in Queensland it bought in 2006.

In 2009, Caledon mined 604,000 tonnes of coal from Cook, up from 548,000t in 2008.

The latest figures show the group’s raw coal production from operation rose 35 per cent to 174 million tonnes of raw coal in the three months to the end of June.

Caledon has targeted saleable output of 700,000 tonnes this year.

The group is currently carrying out a feasibility study on the neighbouring Minyango prospect, which it also bought back in 2006, which has a JORC compliant resource of 342 million tonnes.