Norilsk/Xstrata Flexible metals

Metal fever is burning bright in Canada. LionOre, a Toronto-listed nickel miner, has just received the fourth bid in a two-month auction - $6.3bn in cash from Russia’s Norilsk. That’s 49% higher than the starting offer from London-listed Xstrata. Norilsk was undeterred by a $305m break fee to Xstrata, which increases its effective price by 4%. Meanwhile, Alcan, the Canadian aluminium giant, looks right to have rejected a takeover bid from rival Alcoa, even though the $28bn cash-and-share offer ...