Sundance Waives Bank Letter Condition for Hanlong Takeover

Sundance Resources Ltd., which agreed in October to be bought for A$1.65 billion ($1.6 billion), decided to waive a condition for the takeover by Sichuan Hanlong Group.

Sundance’s acceptance of Hanlong’s 57-cent-a-share cash proposal to buy stock it doesn’t already own in the Australian iron ore developer is subject to conditions, including receiving a “Highly Confident Letter” from China Development Bank Corp. by Nov. 28. Hanlong asked Sundance to waive the letter as a requirement, the Perth-based company said in a statement today.

“The board of Sundance remains firmly of the view that completing this scheme of arrangement with Hanlong is an attractive outcome for shareholders,” George Jones, chairman of Sundance, said in the statement. “I received a letter from Hanlong which has assured us of Hanlong’s genuine interest in acquiring Sundance.”

Buying Sundance will give Hanlong control of the $4.7 billion Mbalam rail, port and iron ore mine project straddling the border of Cameroon and Republic of Congo. Hanlong, which has investments in highway and power projects, said last year it will invest as much as A$5 billion in resource assets to feed China’s demand for commodities.

The agreement is expected to be completed by May next year as scheduled, Jones said.

Sundance and Hanlong will continue to work together to obtain government mining approvals from both African nations by Feb. 29, according to the statement.

Sundance rose 1.2 percent to 42.5 cents yesterday at the close of Sydney trading. The shares were halted from trading today. Hanlong holds a 17.95 percent stake in Sundance, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

To contact the reporter on this story: Elisabeth Behrmann in Sydney at ebehrmann1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rebecca Keenan at rkeenan5@bloomberg.net