Following is the article from The Australian. I also think it...

Following is the article from The Australian.  I also think it unlikely that Mount Gibson would take this on although, with most of the mine output being coking/metallurgical coal, there could be some synergies with their existing customer base.


Mt Gibson Iron eyes Wesfarmers’ east coast coalmines

Mount Gibson Iron is believed to be considering a bid for Wesfarmers’ Curragh coalmine, which is up for sale through investment bank UBS and advisory firm Gresham.
The West Australian company’s plan to potentially diversify away from iron ore into coal comes after it flagged potential acquisitions.
It is understood Perth-based advisory firm Azure Capital was recently hired by Mt Gibson to explore a possible acquisition of Curragh.
Mt Gibson declined to comment on the speculation.
Curragh, which produces 8 million tonnes of coking coal and 3 million tonnes of thermal coal a year, is believed to be worth about $1bn — a big bite for Mt Gibson, with its $392million market value.
But it has more than $400m in cash on its balance sheet, about a quarter of which will be spent on its Koolan Island project.
Much of its interest will depend on the level of backing it can secure from its 29.5 per cent shareholder, APAC Resources.
Mt Gibson escaped from loss-making territory in the six months to December to post a $22.9m net profit as it prospered from the iron ore rally.
Wesfarmers is selling both Curragh and Bengalla (together worth up to $2bn) as it also lists its stationery business Officeworks, tipped to be worth about $1.5bn.
Sources say analyst valuation estimates for the initial public offering through JPMorgan, UBS and Macquarie Capital are due out this week.
Wesfarmers is also one of the parties planning to float the $3bn West Australian oil and gas company Quadrant Energy. It has a 13.7 per cent interest in the business, largely owned by Brookfield and Macquarie Group.
Requests for proposals were sent to a large number of investment banks about two weeks ago and Quadrant Energy plans to award the mandates to banks this week.
It is believed the plan is to tap the market for about $1bn through a float on the Australian Securities Exchange after June.
The company plans to appoint either one or two investment banks to work alongside Macquarie Capital, with contenders likely to include UBS, Deutsche, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
Some believe Brookfield will want independent advice on Quadrant separate from its joint venture partner Macquarie, which is also working on the rival Origin Energy upstream business IPO with UBS.
Wesfarmers is selling its east coast mines to take advantage of surging coal prices, although it is thought that the level of interest has not been overwhelming.
It is widely believed that the Bengalla thermal coalmine in the NSW Hunter Valley is likely to sell to New Hope coal, which already hass a 40 per cent interest in the asset that Wesfarmers does not control.