Inmet looking at AUR again?The part I like from article below is as follows:
"In terms of the copper plays (Aur Resources), the one that is most like Phelps, is the one that's gone up the most," said Ray Goldie, a metals analyst with Salman Partners.
"They'll be a lot of cash coming out of the (Freeport-Phelps) deal looking for a new home, and people who are investors in companies like Aur Resources are thinking that Aur might be that new home."
Ian Nakamoto of MacDougall, MacDougall and McTier said Inmet may be looking at Aur, since the two companies tried to merge a few years ago."
Here is the entire article. AETT
Canadian miners's stock surge after Freeport-Phelps deal fuels takeover fever
TORONTO (CP) - Canadian mining stocks surged Monday after Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX) said it will pay US$25.9-billion to buy copper miner Phelps Dodge Corp. (NYSE:PD), spurring speculation about further consolidation in the mining industry.
On the Toronto Stock Exchange, shares in Toronto-based Aur Resources Inc. (TSX:AUR), which produces copper, zinc and silver, gained 10 per cent to close at $20.56 after rising as high as $21.08 with 1.5 million shares changing hands.
Vancouver copper miner Tenke Mining Corp.(TSX:TNK) rose 12.4 per cent to $13.93, while LionOre Minerals International (TSX:LIM), a Toronto-based nickel producer, gained almost seven per cent on 5.4 million shares traded and Inmet Mining (TSX:IMN), a copper, gold and zinc producer, rose seven per cent to $54.77.
HudBay Minerals Inc.(TSX:HBM), a Winnipeg base metals and smelting company, closed at $18.65, up $1.28 or 7.37 per cent.
The surge followed the announcement late Sunday of the friendly deal between Freeport-McMoRan and Phelps Dodge - the latest hook-up in the takeover frenzy that has been sweeping through miners as prices for copper, zinc, nickel and other base metals rise on soaring demand from China and India.
"In terms of the copper plays (Aur Resources), the one that is most like Phelps, is the one that's gone up the most," said Ray Goldie, a metals analyst with Salman Partners.
"They'll be a lot of cash coming out of the (Freeport-Phelps) deal looking for a new home, and people who are investors in companies like Aur Resources are thinking that Aur might be that new home."
Ian Nakamoto of MacDougall, MacDougall and McTier said Inmet may be looking at Aur, since the two companies tried to merge a few years ago.
LionOre, EuroZinc and HudBay are also targets, Nakamoto said, although he expects further consolidation within Canada to happen through mergers, not hostile takeovers.
"All of Canada's mining companies are mid-to small-size companies," he said. "A lot of these mergers ... are to get bigger because fund managers around the world may only want to own one or two (miners), and they usually want big-cap, liquid stock."
"It's a matter of being relevant."
Teck Cominco Ltd. (TSX:TCK.B), one of the few large independent players remaining, is unlikely to be a takeover target because of its multiple voting share structure, which allows the Keevil family to control the company.
But the company, which is flushed with cash, is also unlikely to gobble up any of the mid-size miners because "they're already big enough to get on people's radar screens," Nakamoto said.
"They're looking for that next leap up," he said, adding:"buying smaller companies is not meaningful enough to add to their bottom line."
Teck was one of the companies bidding for nickel miner Inco Ltd. (TSX:N) - a bid both it and Phelps Dodge lost to a $19-billion all-cash offer from Brazil's CVRD (NYSE:RIO).
© The Canadian Press, 2005