more in the press today...Yesterday WHC and AZT announced that...

more in the press today...
Yesterday WHC and AZT announced that they are in talks over a potential merger. While it is being billed as a 'merger of equals', it appears it is really a nil premium deal in which WHC will remain the larger party. Some are curious as to whether the ratio to be used will be more in line with the 57.5/42.5 in favour of WHC before the AZT management team jumped ship 3wks ago or 60/40 ratio as of Friday. AZT and WHC are no strangers to talks on combining their companies, but the suggestion is that Nathan Tinkler sparked the latest round about 6wks ago. The deal will be an all-scrip transaction since neither of the parties has cash to spare if they are to fund their ambitious growth plans. In a separate article (AFR 16), it is said that a proposed merger of mid-cap coal miners WHC and AZT is expected to create the perfect target for foreign buyers wanting to enter Australia's rapidly consolidating coal sector. Tinker’s Broadwalk also gets a mention today. Boardwalk owns 19.9% of Coalworks (CWK), which holds Vickery South project in the same region as Whitehaven’s Vickery project and the other Gunnedeah Basin assets. AFR 20