Riversdale Mining today said its board of directors, including Tata Steel nominee N K Misra, has recommended Rio Tinto's 3.9 Australian dollar takeover bid in the absence of a "superior proposal".
The development comes amid speculations of a possible rival bid by ICVL, an Indian consortium of five state-run companies, while Riversdale's largest stakeholder Tata Steel is yet to come out with its plan for the Australian miner.
"...All the directors of Riversdale recommended, in the absence of a superior proposal, that Riversdale shareholders accept the offer by Rio Tinto to purchase all Riversdale shares for 16 Australian dollar cash per share," Riversdale said in a statement.
According to the firm, Misra, who abstained from voting for Rio Tinto bid in December, has now approved the same.
"While N K Misra recommends the offer, in the absence of a superior proposal, his recommendation is given in his capacity as a director of Riversdale and does not reflect Tata Steel's position, which through its wholly-owned subsidiary TS Global Minerals Holdings is the largest shareholder of Riversdale," the statement said.
Misra is also the vice president and group head of mergers and acquisitions at Tata Steel, which holds 24.4 per cent stake in the Africa-focused miner.
Misra's move to abstain from voting in December had sparked off speculations that Tata Steel may explore bidding for Riversdale.
When contacted, a Tata Steel spokesperson said, "Our position remains the same. At this point of time, we have nothing to announce."
Last week, Tata Steel Group CFO (rpt) CFO Koushik Chatterjee had said the company would continue to be a coal consumer for future for expansion. "Therefore, we would want to get that (Riversdale) economic interest," he had said.
Meanwhile, ICVL (International Coal Ventures Ltd) is yet to decide on their strategy for Riversdale. The grouping of five entities -- SAIL, CIL, NMDC, RINL and NTPC -- are meeting on January 27, where they are expected to finalise their course of action for the Australian miner.
On January 22, ICVL's board meeting on the issue ended inconclusive.
Last week, SAIL Chairman C S Verma, who also heads the ICVL, had told PTI, "We discussed the issue but could not arrive at any decision. We have convened another meeting on January 27 in Delhi to finalise the issue."
Interestingly, Riversdale today said that so far, it has not received any "superior offer... And the company is not aware of any party having intention to make such a proposal".
Riversdale has about 13 billion tonnes of rich coking and thermal coal reserves in its Benga and Zambeze projects in Mozambique.
