Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., a U.S.-traded mining company based in Beijing that’s also known as Chalco, offered to pay more than $700 million for the largest U.S. rare-earths producer’s non-U.S. assets, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the process is private. Shenghe Resources Holdings Co., a rare-earths miner and processor based in Chengdu, China, and lithium miner Galaxy Resources Ltd., based in West Perth, Australia, also made offers that exceeded the company’s appraised value range, which tops out at $443 million, the people said. U.S. private-equity firm Carlyle Group LP also has held talks about a possible bid, the people said.
The overseas bidders are willing to offer higher prices because they expect to gain value from the cost savings of combining two similar businesses
