US coal major Peabody Energy has asked the Australian government’s takeover’s panel to step in and prevent Macarthur Coal Ltd’s
(ASX:MCC) from holding a shareholder’s meeting to vote on the acquisition of Gloucester Coal Ltd
(ASX:GCL) until shareholder’s are fully aware of Peabody’s revised proposal.
The shareholder meeting to be held on April 12, is to vote on a proposed takeover of fellow coal miner Gloucester Coal, and acquisition of Noble Group’s interest in the Middlemount joint venture.
Peabody Energy sweetened its $13 a share offer for Macarthur to $14 conditional upon the Gloucester takeover not going ahead.
In filing its request with the takeovers panel the US coal company cited a number of unacceptable circumstances including the failure of Macarthur to provide shareholders with additional information in relation to its revised offer and not providing enough information to allow shareholders to compare the merits of both proposals on the table.
The takeovers panel says it is yet to decide on whether to grant an injunction against the meeting.
Macarthur Coal reported a profit of $168.56 million for the 2009 financial year.
