Iron Ore Holdings had made a bid for Baffinland Iron Ore Mines offering 80 cents a share for Baffinland on September 22. The original deadline which was due to expire has been extended to December 2, 2010.
Iron Ore Holdings is controlled by Bruce Walter and Jowdat Waheed, both former senior executives with Sherritt International.
The bid made by Iron Ore Holdings is also backed by the Toronto private equity firm Energy & Minerals Group and has been made via a wholly owned subsidiary of the company known as Nunavut Iron.
On November 8, Arcelor Mittal also made a counter bid of $1.10 per share and 10 cents for each warrant bringing the bid up to a value of $433 million. The senior management and principal shareholder have accepted this bid and recommended it to other shareholders. This bid from the world’s largest steel making company will expire on December 20.
Baffinland Iron Ore Mines owns the Mary River iron ore deposit which is a high grade prospect on Baffin Island. It has been looking for partners to help develop this flagship project worth Canadian $4 billion in the northern Canadian territory of Nunavut.