Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC), the mining company 26 per cent-owned by fellow miner Kazakhmys, has confirmed that the indicative proposal made by a consortium on May 16th envisaged an offer of 175p per share in cash and 0.231 of an existing Kazakhmys shares for each ENRC share.
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 issued a statement on Monday saying that the proposal "materially undervalues ENRC".
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It added that on the day of the proposal the consortium referenced a Kazakhmys share price of 370p per share on May 13th, which together with the 175p per share in cash represented a total price of 260p per ENRC share.
In a statement released Friday 17th, ENRC said: "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."
Monday's news sent ENRC shares plunging to the bottom spot on the FTSE, down 4.49% to 259.40p by 08:40 on Monday.
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