China's CITIC Group undecided on Macarthur counterbid

Fri Aug 19, 2011 8:36am GMT

* Macarthur shares trade below Peabody/ArcelorMittal offer price
* CITIC says has not set timetable for listing
By Donny Kwok

HONG KONG, Aug 19 (Reuters) - China's Citic Group has yet to decide whether to launch a counterbid for Australian coal miner Macarthur Coal Ltd , which is the subject of a $5 billion hostile takeover from ArcelorMittal SA and Peabody Energy Corp .

Citic Group, together with subsidiary Citic Resources Holdings Ltd , owns about 24 percent of Macarthur, making it the single largest shareholder of the world's biggest producer of pulverised and cleaner burning coal.

"It is not yet time to show our stance (on Peabody's offer)," Citic Group Chairman Chang Zhenming told reporters on Friday. He did not elaborate.

Macarthur shares fell 1.2 percent to A$15.32 on Friday, below the ArcelorMittal/Peabody offer price of A$15.66 per share, including a 16 cent dividend.

ArcelorMittal and Peabody opened their takeover for shareholder acceptance on Thursday, after Macarthur rejected the offer. Macarthur has told shareholders not to take any action on the offer until it sends out its formal response in the next two weeks.

Arcelor and Peabody own 16.1 percent of Macarthur and need another 34 percent of shareholders on board for the offer to be accepted.

Separately, Citic Group said it had not yet set a timetable for an initial public offering, Chang said.

Last year, media reports said CITIC Group was considering a $12 billion listing in Hong Kong in 2011, a move that could help the state-owned conglomerate raise its profile and cut debt.

"We are still working on an internal restructuring ... we don't have a timetable yet," he added.