MIM Holdings Limited

After five months of market huffing and puffing, Swiss mining outfit Xstrata has finally offered $1.72 per share to shareholders of Queensland-based copper and coal miner MIM. This came in at the low end of an independent valuation by valuer Grant Samuel - for whatever that's worth. But the intriguing part of the story is that the offer has the support of the non-executive directors but MIM's managing director is saying it's not enough. This is an unusual situation to say the least. To top it off MIM chairman Leo Tutt apparently said at a briefing 'we don't know how they (Grant Samuel) derived their figures' in response to a question on whether the valuation included Xstrata's synergy value. Maybe the managing director is more astute than the board? The stock is up 14% since issue 124/Apr 03 (Hold for the Upside - $1.47). It's been a nice performer for those punters who acted on our initial Speculative Buy recommendation back in issue 117/Nov 02 (Hold for the Upside/Speculative Buy - $1.47). Subscribers should now simply HOLD FOR THE UPSIDE.