HK's Winsway moves closer to $1 bln Grand Cache deal

* HK-listed Winsway to put Grand Cache bid to vote on Feb. 28
* Winsway, Marubeni secure $400 mln loans to fund buy

Feb 13 (Reuters) - Winsway Coking Coal Holdings Ltd said on Monday it received regulatory approval to seek a shareholders' meeting on a proposed purchase of Canadian coal miner Grand Cache Coal Corp, moving closer to the nearly $1 billion takeover.

The company secured Hong Kong stock exchange approval to send its formal bid proposal to a shareholder vote on Feb. 28.

Winsway, an importer and distributor of coking coal from Mongolia into China, made the bid of about C$984.7 million ($991 million) for Grand Cache in October with Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp, with two-thirds in cash and one-third from bank loans.

Winsway and Marubeni secured up to $400 million in loans to fund the purchase on Friday, the Hong-Kong listed company said in a separate statement. The 35-month loan will pay interest equal to 3-month Libor plus 4.5 percent a year, or 5.006 percent, according to a Winsway filing in Hong Kong.

Shares in Winsway came under pressure last month after fraud allegations from a mysterious research firm called Jonestown Research. Winsway refuted the allegations, calling the report flawed and full of errors.

Winsway's stock tumbled 14 percent over two days after the Jonestown Research allegations surfaced, but has gained nearly 20 percent since then. The stock was down 0.9 percent at HK$2.15 in late afternoon trading on Monday.

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