China's Guangdong Rising Assets Management made a third takeover offer for Australian copper and gold miner PanAust, valuing the company at A$1.1 billion (HK$6.6 billion), 26 per cent less than just 10 months ago.

In a statement yesterday, PanAust said it received a letter from 22.5 per cent shareholder Guangdong Rising on Saturday saying it planned to offer to buy the shares it did not own for A$1.71 each, or A$859 million.

The planned offer price is above PanAust's Friday close of A$1.35 per share but lower than the A$2.30 per share, or A$1.1 billion, the Chinese firm offered in May last year. PanAust rejected the May offer.

In its statement, PanAust said it would consider the latest offer but noted that it was "made at a time when both the PanAust share price and spot prices for copper and gold have been trading at near five-year lows".

Australian miners have seen their shares tumble in the past year, making them more attractive to takeovers, as commodity prices remain at multi-year lows due to a supply glut.

PanAust, which produces copper in Laos and is looking at developing a second copper mine at the Frieda River project in Papua New Guinea, said in January that it cut 5 per cent of its workforce as copper traded around its lowest level in half a decade.

Guangdong Rising's latest proposal urged shareholders to accept the all-cash offer to avoid the "external and company-specific risks that PanAust may be subject to and which may adversely affect the trading price of PanAust".

PanAust might need to raise additional capital to get the Frieda River project into production, which might send its shares lower, Guangdong Rising added.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Guangdong Rising renews bid for PanAust

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tK%2FMqWWcp51kr7a%2FyKecrKtfmLyuuc6doK2hlah8or7TopqlnV9mhHZ%2Bj2tpaJ%2BllruosM6nnmaqmai2r7OMpaawnaKoerCyxZ6pZpmlqMGzrcuimKdlnZ67pr6MqZinmaWowW6%2BxKecsJ2U