UPDATE 1-OZ Minerals says no superior alternative proposal
(Adds details, fund manager comments)
SYDNEY, June 4 (Reuters) - Debt-laden Australian miner OZ Minerals Ltd (OZL.AX) has not received a superior proposal to a planned $1.2 billion takeover by China's Minmetals, clearing the way for the deal to go ahead.
OZ Minerals made the comment on Thursday in a statement after the Australian Financial Review newspaper said the miner would get a recapitalisation proposal from Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) and Australia's RFC Group as an alternative to the recommended Minmetals deal. See [nSYD452420] for details.
The Minmetals proposal has secured all approvals and OZ shareholders will vote on it on June 11.
OZ Minerals shares dropped 3.3 percent to A$0.87, outpacing a 1.7 percent fall in the benchmark index .AXJO and suggesting that the market was not betting on an alternative proposal.
"The Minmetals bid has been accepted by the board and it looks to be a reasonable bid," said David Walsh, a fund manager with Barclays Global Investors, which oversees about A$14 billion ($11 billion) including OZ Minerals shares.
"There is little time left involved for them to change," Walsh said, adding the counter bid, as reported in the newspaper, involves potentially some dilution.
OZ Minerals is prohibited from soliciting counter bids under the terms of the Minmetal deals and OZ is required to pay about $12 million in break fees if OZ Minerals board withdraws its recommendation. ($1=A$1.25) (Reporting by Denny Thomas, editing by Jonathan Standing)
