Noble Group trumps Exxaro bid for Australia's Territory

Thu Jun 9, 2011 4:12am GMT

* Noble offers A$0.50 a share for Territory Resources
* Territory board reviewing offer at Thursday meet
* Noble out bids Exxaro by 9 pct
* Shares jump to A$0.52 (Adds Territory reaction, updates share move)

MELBOURNE, June 9 (Reuters) - Shares of Australian iron ore miner Territory Resources soared over 10 percent on Thursday after commodities firm Noble Group made a A$132.6 million ($140.8 million) bid, trumping an offer from South African miner Exxaro .

The offer of A$0.50 a share from Hong Kong-based Noble Group, which already owns 30 percent of Territory, is 9 percent better than Exxaro's bid and 6 percent above Territory's last closing price.

"By making this offer to secure our holding in Territory, we aim to ensure that its attention on growth will not in future run the risk of being deflected by any more opportunistic corporate actions," Noble said.

Territory Resources said the board would meet Thursday to review the offer and would later provide shareholders with further advice.

At 0410 GMT, its shares traded up 10.6 percent at A$0.52 per share.

Exxaro, one of South Africa's largest coal miners, launched its offer last month as part of a plan to buy several iron ore asset and eventually produce 10 million tonnes a year of the steel-making ingredient.

Analysts said Exxaro's bid, pitched at a 64 percent premium to Territory's share price at the time, was expensive given the short three-to-five-year life span of Territory's mine in Australia's Northern Territory.

Noble has appointed Investec broker to the offer. Exxaro is being advised by RMB Corporate Finance, a unit of South Africa's FristRand and Greenhill Caliburn. Azure Capital is advising Territory. ($1 = 0.942 Australian Dollars) (sourced Thomson Reuters)