Andrew Forrest’s Wyloo Metals on Monday lifted its offer to buy out Canadian nickel explorer Noront Resources, after failing to reach agreement with Australian giant BHP on a deal.
In the latest twist of a bidding war, Wyloo upped its offer to CAN$1.10 a share, beating BHP’s CAN$0.75 and valuing Noront at CAN$616.9m.
The BHP offer currently has the support of the Noront board. BHP said it had been unable to win backing from Wyloo for its offer. Wyloo initially offered CAN$0.70 a share in August.
The revised offer “continues to provide those shareholders who believe in the long-term potential of Noront with the opportunity to participate in Noront’s continued growth by remaining as shareholders,” Wyloo said in a statement.
In a separate statement, BHP urged Noront shareholders to accept its offer.
“The offer is the only offer available to Noront shareholders and it continues to have the support and recommendation of the board of directors of Noront,” it added.
Australian billionaire Forrest holds a 37.2% stake in Noront, and Wyloo said it was confident of being able to submit a formal offer given its terms “are clearly financially superior”.
BHP and Wyloo have been in a bidding war since August to gain access to Noront’s high-grade Canadian nickel deposits in a largely untapped region of northern Ontario dubbed the Ring of Fire.
Both firms want access to nickel deposits, a key metal used in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.
