Aditya Birla, JSW Steel, JSPL in race for Australian coal miner’s assets

Aditya Birla Group, JSW Steel, Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) and Chinese firms are among the shortlisted bidders for Bandanna Energy in a sale that could fetch the Australian coal explorer between $1 – $1.5 billion.

Among the shortlisted bidders are China's CITIC Resources Holdings and a subsidiary of China Coal, Reuters yesterday reported citing unnamed sources.

Brisbane-based Bandanna holds 11 exploration permits for coal with applications for a further five in the Bowen and Galilee Basins in Queensland. 

The company commenced a strategic review late last year and appointed Swiss bank UBS to advice on raising funds to develop three projects in the Bowen Basin. The Bandanna Formation is a well known coal bearing geological unit within the Bowen Basin.

Bandanna coal permits hold a resource of more than 1.4 billion metric tons, the largest thermal coal resource with any exploration company in Australia.

Non-binding indicative bids were submitted on 4 May and the company said that it has received a number of non-binding indicative bids. Bandanna will now review the non-binding indicative bids in conjunction with its advisors, and may select a shortlist of parties to progress to a second stage of the transaction process.