Yanzhou Coal Mining has made a bid to acquire Australian miner Felix Resources, the Wall Street Journal reported. Yanzhou and Felix both placed shares on trading halts Monday in what appeared to be preparation for an imminent change of control. The deal still requires approval from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board, where it may encounter some resistance: Australian officials have previously expressed a preference for limiting foreign stakes to 49.9%. Yanzhou hopes the deal will help it to secure access to supplies of metallurgical coal. A successful acquisition would be seen as an encouraging sign of the Australian government’s willingness to allow Chinese investors to take over Australian companies amid tensions caused by the detention of Rio Tinto employees in China.
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