Xstrata: Sphere Value At Risk If Shareholders Turn Down Offer

The value of shares in Mauritania-focused iron ore developer Sphere Minerals Ltd. (SPH.AU) will be at risk if shareholders turn down Xstrata Plc's (XTA.LN) A$513.6 million offer for the miner, Xstrata Coal Chief Executive Peter Freyberg said Tuesday.

The revised A$3-a-share offer would be at risk if "complacency" from shareholders failed to take Xstrata above its 50.1% minimum acceptance level before the offer closes on Friday, he told Dow Jones Newswires.

"At the end of the day this is a full and final bid, it's a 94% premium to the pre-offer price, we take on the development risks and it becomes a risk-free cash event for shareholders," he said.

The recommended takeover, Xstrata's first major foray into iron ore, had initially lackluster take-up since it was announced Aug. 24, with Chinese steelmakers led by Singapore-based commodities trader Sin-Tang Development making an alternative proposal for a capital raising and project finance for Sphere's Askaf magnetite project.

However, Freyberg said Xstrata now had around 30% of Sphere's shares under its control or in an institutional acceptance facility, which will be released conditional on Xstrata breaching 50.1%.

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