(Adds details of offer, quotes)
Dec 21 (Reuters) - Australian gas producer AWE Ltd (AWE) said on Thursday it would accept a sweetened takeover offer from Mineral Resources Ltd (MIN) worth about A$526 million ($403 million), which trumped an all-cash bid from a Chinese state-owned firm.
Mineral Resources improved its all-shares offer with a cash component, which AWE said implied an offer price of A$0.83, assuming Mineral Resources shares averaged between A$15 and A$21 per share in the period ahead of a vote on the bid, expected in April.
AWE said the company's board unanimously recommended the offer, which topped a A$442 million bid from China Energy Reserve and Chemicals Group.
"The acquisition of AWE, including its 50 percent interest in the Waitsia Gas Project, is logical and on-strategy for MRL," Mineral Resources Managing Director Chris Ellison said in a statement.
Ellison added the company had a "strong desire" to develop Waitsia as a "key pillar" of the company's business over the next 20 to 30 years.
On Tuesday AWE raised the reserves estimate on its flagship Waitsia gas field, considered Australia's biggest onshore conventional gas find in four decades.
Mineral Resources added it expected the deal to be settled by May next year.
CERCG, which has been pressing AWE for access to its books before considering raising its offer, had no immediate comment on AWE's decision to back the Mineral Resources bid. ($1 = 1.3046 Australian dollars)
