Vedanta may up offer price for Asarco: Report

NRI billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Resources may increase its offer for bankrupt mining firm Asarco, according to a media report.

“An amended debtor’s filing that may be submitted as soon as today will show a unit of Vedanta ... will increase to $770 million from $600 million the note portion of its offer valued at between $2 billion and $3 billion including liabilities,” The Wall Street Journal said in a report published online today. Vedanta Resources declined to comment.

Vedanta Resources group subsidiary Sterlite Industries had last year come out with a $2.6-billion bid to acquire the assets of Asarco, the third-largest copper producer in the US. But with crashing commodity prices, it lowered the offer to $2.1 billion and later to $1.7 billion. The $1.7-billion deal, which was unveiled earlier this year, has a cash component of $1.1 billion and $600 notes to be paid over a period of time.

Countering the offer, Asarco parent Grupo Mexico came out with $1.6-billion offer, which had $1.3 billion in cash. Grupo Mexico was later reported to have hiked its bid to $2.9 billion to acquire the bankrupt firm. Reportedly, the US-based Harbinger Capital Partners is also in the race for Asarco with a $500-million buy-out bid.