ENRC rebuffs proposal from founding shareholders

An approach by a group of ENRC's founding shareholders regarding a possible takeover is not high enough, according to the mining company which has allowed the consortium more time to revise up its proposal.

Major shareholder Alexander Machkevitch and fellow oligarchs Patokh Chodiev and Alijan Ibragimov announced last month that they were interested in taking over the company along with the government of Kazakhstan, who collectively own 54% of the firm.

ENRC, which is also 26%-owned by fellow miner Kazakhmys, has now said that it received an indicative proposal from the consortium this week which "materially undervalues" the firm.

While ENRC has not specified a price, Bloomberg reported that the founding shareholders are looking at an offer price of less than 300p per share, according to people close to the matter.

The stock was down 6.87% to 275p in afternoon trade from Thursday's close of 295.3p.

ENRC has now given the consortium until June 3rd to either announce a firm intention to make an offer or walk away.

"We believe the current proposal materially undervalues ENRC, and we will use the extension to seek an improved and formal proposal," said Mohsen Khalil, the Chairman of the independent committee of the ENRC board.

"The independent committee is committed to serving the best interests of minority shareholders through a professional, transparent and rigorous process, which incorporates the highest standards and principles of independence and integrity."