Mumbai, Aug 20 (Inditop.com) Sterlite Industries, a leading metals major and part of Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Group, Thursday said it has hiked by $500 million its offer to purchase the assets of Asarco, the Texas-based bankrupt miner, smelter and copper refiner.
“With this announcement, the revised bid will increase to $2.1 billion in cash,” the company said in a regulatory statement.
Sterlite has also proposed to support a plan of reorganisation that is intended to pay creditors in full their allowed amount of claims and full post-petition interest, the release said.
The company added that the nine-year copper price participation note of $207.9 million will remain unchanged.
“All the other terms and conditions of the agreement remain unchanged,” Sterlite said.
The move follows an announcement by Mexican mining major Grupo Mexico that it raised its offer to buy Asarco to $2.2 billion in cash along with $280 million note.
The company offered $2.6 billion for Asarco in 2008. But it walked out of the deal as the copper prices collapsed. The company returned with a new offer of $1.7 billion in March 2009.
