Peabody Energy, the largest U.S. coal producer, has finally gotten Australia's Macarthur Coal to succumb to its takeover overtures as the world's largest maker of pulverized coal agreed to a sweetened $5.2 billion takeover offer from the U.S. company and ArcelorMittal.
Missouri-based Peabody (BTU) tried to acquire Macarthur last year for $3 billion in a solo bid that was rejected. Earlier this month, Peabody teamed with ArcelorMittal (MT), Macarthur's second-largest shareholder, to make a joint offer for the Aussie firm, but encountered difficulty with management.
Peabody and ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, were forced to take their offer directly to Macarthur shareholders. Management advised its investors against taking action on the offer, maintaining that other offers could emerge for the company. Anglo American, Rio Tinto (RIO) and China's Yanzhou Coal (YZC) were also tied to Macarthur, though no offer from those companies was made public.
In a statement, Macarthur acknowledged it will accept the joint Peabody/ArcelorMittal offer, but it did not rule out receiving another more competitive bid, however unlikely that scenario appears at this point.
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