Minmetals Resources withdraws $ 6.6 bln acquisition plan for Equinox

Minmetals Resources (MMR), China's biggest metal trader, said Tuesday it withdrew the planned bid of offering to acquire copper miner Equinox Minerals for 6.3 billion Canadian dollars (about 6.6 billion U.S. dollars).
MMR said Equinox will recommend its shareholders to accept an offer from Barrick Gold, the world's largest gold miner, of 8.15 Canadian dollars per Equinox share, the company said in a stock exchange filing.
MMR announced its intention to make a conditional takeover bid to acquire all the shares in Equinox on April 4 with an offer of 7 Canadian dollars per Equinox share. The overall price was about 14.3 percent less than Barrick's final bid of 7.7 billion U.S. dollars.
"The price offered by Barrick is above our most optimistic assessment of value," Andrew Michelmore, chief executive officer of MMR said in the statement, "Competing with Barrick at these prices would, in our view, be value destructive for MMR's shareholders."
Michelmore said the current about 4.2 percent stake in Equinox has already been financially attractive for MMR and the company will turn its attention to other opportunities.
Dual listed in Canada and Australia, Equinox operates mainly in Zambia and Saudi Arabia.
Shares of MMR resumed trading from 1:30 p.m. Tuesday after a suspension from 9:14 a.m. in the morning.
Weekly review April 20 Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail to remove luxury seats April 18 China undergoing shift into nation of consumers April 18 Zhejiang checks food, raids illegal bun makers April 19 SASS: Chinese students mentally healthier than Asian peers April 23 The week in pictures April 19 Build legal bulwark against moral decline April 21 'China model' 30 years on: from home to abroad April 21 Piano student's bloody crime heart-wrenching in China April 18 China places firmer lid on home prices April 19 China puts brake on economic bullet train