Peabody Energy seeks help in bid for Macarthur Coal
Having seen its $3.3 billion takeover bid spurned by the board of Macarthur Coal Ltd., Peabody Energy Corp. is asking Australia’s Takeovers Panel to intervene on its behalf.
Peabody is asking the panel to require Macarthur to postpone a Monday meeting where shareholders will consider issuing stock to complete the purchase of a third coal producer Gloucester Coal Ltd.
Macarthur agreed in December to buy Gloucester. But Peabody has said that its interest in Macarthur is contingent the Gloucester deal being scuttled.
Macarthur’s board rejected both Peabody offers, saying they don’t fully value the company, which is in the midst of an aggressive expansion. The board also recommended that shareholders vote to issue shares on Monday to complete the Gloucester transaction.
Australia’s Takeovers Panel is a peer-reviewed body that operates under the country’s securities law, according to its web site. It is charged with resolving disputes over takeover proposals. Its 54-members consist of executives, lawyers and academics appointed by the Governor General.
In its appeal to the panel, Peabody argues that Macarthur failed to provide shareholders with enough information to compare its bid with the Gloucester agreement.
The St. Louis-based company asked that Macarthur provide more disclosure, including updated analysis from an independent expert on the Gloucester proposal, and that Monday’s shareholder meeting be delayed until 10 business days after shareholders receive the additional information.
In a statement Thursday, Macarthur said shareholders “have all information required to make an informed decision.”
The company also criticized Peabody for taking out full-page ads in major Australian newspapers, calling them “self serving and potentially misleading.