Sphere Minerals Says Xstrata's Remains Only Offer On Table

Xstrata PLC's (XTA.LN) A$428 million offer for Mauritania-focused magnetite miner Sphere Minerals Ltd. (SPH.AU) remains the only offer before shareholders, the target's advisers said Tuesday amid a stalking-horse move on the company by a Singapore-based investment fund.

Sin-Tang Development, a fund controlled by iron ore trader Yuzheng Xie, which holds strategic stakes in several Australian resource companies, last week took out an 8.63% stake in the company, which announced a recommended A$2.50-a-share takeover offer from Xstrata on Aug. 23.

Sphere shareholders have shown little enthusiasm for Xstrata's offer, with the U.K.- and Switzerland-listed miner announcing that its stake had reached just 8.19% in the six weeks since the takeover was announced.

In a release to the Australian Securities Exchange, Sphere drew attention to recent media articles saying that Sin-Tang had been meeting with Sphere's shareholders to win support for an alternative offer.

"The Sphere board advises that it has not received an alternative proposal to the recommended Xstrata offer from Sin-Tang or any other party," the company said. "Shareholders should accept the offer in the absence of a superior proposal."

Sphere shares closed Monday at A$2.70. Most of Sin-Tang's stake in the company was taken out at an average A$2.56 a share.

-By David Fickling, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]