India's Sterlite Cuts Bid For US Asarco To $1.4B-$1.5B-Report

Mar 01, 2009 (Dow Jones Commodities News via Comtex) Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd. (500900.BY), part of the London-based Vedanta Group, has put in a fresh bid with a long-term staggered payment schedule to acquire copper miner Asarco, the Economic Times reported on its Web site Monday, citing a person privy to the development. The new bid is pegged in the region of $1.4 billion-1.5 billion, substantially lower than the $2.6 billion initially offered, the Web site reported. Sterlite has proposed paying almost half of the amount in installments over a five-year period, the Web site said. Further details are expected to emerge Friday when the Asarco management updates a U.S. bankruptcy court in Corpus Christi, Texas, on various issues related to the company, including the Sterlite bid, the Web site reported the person as saying. If the Asarco management accepts the Sterlite offer, the parties will sign a memorandum of understanding within the next two weeks, the person said, the Web site reported. In that case, Sterlite will have to make an initial payment of about 50% of the total amount. A Sterlite official declined comment, the Web site said.