Battle for Normandy rages on


Normandy chief Robert de Crespigny and his board favored the Newmont bid

SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- The battle for Normandy Mining rages on, with bidder Newmont Mining criticizing a move by rival AngloGold to extend its offer for a week.

AngloGold extended its offer for Normandy, Australia's biggest gold miner, by another week on Friday, in an effort to secure enough votes to fend off Newmont's offer.

The action pushed Newmont to file an application with Australia's Takeovers Panel, requesting a ruling on AngloGold's extension.

"Newmont contends that AngloGold's CEO, Mr. Bobby Godsell, has made statements to the media in the last two weeks to the effect that the AngloGold bid is final and will not be increased," the panel stated Monday, according to Reuters news agency.

Newmont says those comments were misleading. It also said Monday that it has gotten approval from Australian authorities on its offer.

"The formal approval ... should remove any doubt as to our ability to complete the Normandy bid and acquisition of Franco-Nevada by mid-February," Newmont CEO Wayne Murdy said, in a statement.

A last extension

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AngloGold has said its bid is better because it can pay right away, while Newmont faces various delays. Newmont has countered by getting the go-ahead from securities regulators first in the United States and now Australia.

AngloGold's finance director, Jonathan Best, on Friday ruled out a fourth extension of his company's offer. He said he is keen to bring the matter to a conclusion as soon as possible.

But Best said his company would have to decide other options should they fail to get their goal of 50.1 percent.

The gap between cash offers in the fiercely fought four-month-long takeover battle narrowed to just a couple of cents during the past week.

Based on Friday's closing prices in New York, AngloGold's bid values Normandy at $1.95 a share, for a total of A$4.34 billion.

Newmont's bid now comes in at A$1.96 per share, or A$4.38 billion.

The gap between the two bids was much greater, but Newmont's stock price has been slipping.

On Friday, Godsell said AngloGold has won acceptances for 6.5 percent of Normandy shares.

But it must secure win more than 10 percent of Normandy shareholders over before it could prevent Newmont from taking full control of Normandy.

Under Australian law, Newmont needs to win more than 90 percent of Normandy to be able to buy the rest of the company automatically.

Buying Normandy would make Newmont the world's largest gold producer, seizing the title from AngloGold.

Normandy stock has hit a five-year high, as the bidders raise and reraise their offers.

Normandy closed on Monday up 4 cents, or 2.05 percent, at A$1.95.