Sennen receives seven offers to purchase MDL 282
2005-03-04 13:41 ET - News Release
Mr. Ian Rozier reports
UPDATE ON QUEENSLAND COAL PROJECTS
Sennen Resources Ltd. has provided an update on the possible divestment of the MDL 282 (Middlemount) coal project in Queensland, Australia.
The July 15, 2004, news in Stockwatch reported that several entities had approached the company with respect to the advancement of its coal projects and that the company was reviewing all its options with respect to how to proceed with the development and/or sale of its coal interests. In the Dec. 2, 2004, news in Stockwatch, the company reported that its Australian subsidiary, Ribfield Pty. Ltd., had entered into a series of agreements with DJB Coal Pty. Ltd. whereby DJB would complete feasibility studies and make application for a mining lease on all three deposits within five years, and in the event of a divestment of MDL 282 would retain a 50-per-cent interest in the proceeds from the sale. DJB contracted Global Asset Resource Exchange Pty. Ltd. (GRAX) to solicit offers from prospective bidders for the purchase of MDL 282 and this process was continuing throughout December, 2004, and January, 2005.
As of Jan. 24, 2005, seven offers to purchase MDL 282 had been received. Because of the complexity of several of the bids that involved the evaluation of capped and interpolated royalties, financing conditions of cash bids, approvals by foreign government bodies and reserve banks, and other conditional aspects of the various bids, the review process was not complete until March 2, 2005. The company is bound by confidentiality with respect to the identification of the bidders and the terms and conditions of their respective offers. However, mutually acceptable terms and conditions between Sennen, Ribfield, DJB and short-listed bidders were not reached prior to March 2, 2005.
Although the foregoing bid process is complete, nothing prevents the company from considering updated and/or future offers for any of the three coal properties. The company will continue to review its options and proceed with the advancement of the projects in order to increase their value and take advantage of the high demand for coal assets as demonstrated by the interest shown in the recent bid process for MDL 282.
