Frankly, I didn't expect it: when BHP's last offer of $25 for each Oz Minerals share was rejected, I thought BHP would walk away from it, but they did their sums again and came up with a new offer of $28.25, or a total of $9.6 Billion for the whole enterprise, which Oz Minerals have accepted.
It's not all done and dusted yet, with satisfactory due diligence yet to follow, but it looks like the Big Australian is going to get even bigger.
Not that it did much for its share price today which went up by a mere fourteen cents, whereas OZ Minerals' shares jumped 3.95% to $27.34.
Daily Reckoning, in a recent article, opines that the deal will short-change Oz Minerals shareholders who will miss out on the coming boom in copper. As they write here, "OZL holds large reserves of high-grade, dependable copper deposits that have consistently delivered on production guidance for some of the lowest-cost production in the world. Just as importantly however is the LOCATION of its assets — situated in the outback of South Australia. For international mining majors, Australia offers a risk-free jurisdiction to grow their business. With growing threats in the world’s largest copper-producing nation [Chile], Oz Minerals holds a prized asset."
BHP is currently around $44. With my average buy-in price around $46.15, I'll stick around until it's back to its 52-week high of $53.72.
P.S. A preview of "The Big Fella - The Rise and Rise of BHP Billiton" here.
