Xstrata matches Crosby's $540 million bid for Indophil stake

Mumbai: Swiss mining giant Xstrata has raised its bid for Philippine miner Indophil even as its major shareholder Lion Selection voted against two resolutions at its shareholders meeting to block the bid.

Lion Selection, which controls 25.4 per of Indophil, voted down a pre-bid agreement with Xstrata that could have seen Xstrata close in on a 17.7 per cent stake in Indophil.

The motion to proceed with the pre-bid agreement was voted down at a meeting in Melbourne with 55.6 per cent voting against and 44.4 per cent for.

However, Lion will still look to sell its Indophil stake, with 64.9 per cent of shareholders voting in favour of a resolution to offload the stake as part of a plan that will see $267 million in cash returned to shareholders.

Xstrata returned with a matching offer for the $540 million ($1.28 a share) offer made by Hong Kong-based buy-out firm Crosby Capital Partners for its junior partner in the Tampakan copper-gold project in the Philippines.

Xstrata said it would be holding Lion to the pre-bid agreement, which gave it the right to match any competing offers at least 24 hours before Lion's general meeting at 10am on 23 June.