Resource Pacific and Allegiance Nickel are maintaining their determined bids to remain free of bigger predators.
Resource rejected a sweetened offer from Xstrata late Friday and Allegiance's opposition forced Zinifex to extend its offer after being ignored by the company's shareholders.
Xstrata Coal increased its bid by nearly $120 million in an effort to win acceptance but all it received was another rejection with the word 'unimpressive' used to describe it.
After winning few acceptances from shareholders apart from Japanese trading house Marubeni, Xstrata raised its cash offer to $3.20 a share – or $1.08 billion – up from the $2.85-a-share bid launched in December. (Why it couldn't have bid $3 or more to start with is beyond explanation. The offer may have had a better chance, especially with the current market volatility.)
Xstrata also declared the new offer final, meaning it can extend the closing date, but it cannot raise the price.
Resource Pacific managing director, Paul Jury, told AAP that directors were so far unimpressed.
In its statement accompanying the new offer terms, Xstrata failed to explain why it had raised the offer and instead, it again criticised Resource Pacific's production record and its ability to deliver on its target of eventually producing 8 million tonnes a year from two longwalls mining operations at the Newpac mine in the Hunter Valley.
Resource Pacific's mine is next to several Xstrata mines so there are considerable cost savings to be made from a merging of the two businesses.
Resource Pacific shares closed 2c higher at $2.98 before the increased offer was announced.
Zinifex extended its $745 million hostile takeover bid for nickel producer Allegiance to 7pm on February 22.
The offer was scheduled to close on Friday at 7 pm.
But the offer hasn't gone well and Zinifex revealed on Friday it had received acceptances of just 0.26%.
But this rose to more than 5% over the weekend when Lion selection accepted the offer. Lion was the second largest shareholder in Allegiance after Jinchuan of China with around 11%.
Zinifex chief executive Andrew Michelmore told shareholders in a statement:"If you have already accepted Zinifex's offer, you need not take any action. If you have not, I strongly urge you to accept the offer without delay."
Earlier, Allegiance said Zinifex should issue a stock exchange announcement clarifying whether it would close the offer on Friday.
"We have no intention other than to close the offer tomorrow afternoon," Zinifex said on Thursday. There was obviously a change of heart.
Allegiance shares closed above the $1 per share bid price at $1.05 on Friday, while Zinifex finished 9c higher at $9.34.
The market will be watching this morning's update from Primary Health Care on the progress of its $4.10 a share cash bid for Symbion.
There's a chance it could get close to moving over the 50% level after revealing Friday that it had increased its stake in Symbion to 48% from 44.6%.
The sharp rise Thursday from Wednesday puts it close to getting control. Friday's acceptances will be reported to the ASX this morning.
The $2.6 billion bid will close tomorrow and Primary says it will declare the bid unconditional if it gains 50.1% by then and pay accepting investors within a week for their shares.
And digital media company Destra has dropped its attempted takeover of Beyond International after failing to raise the money for the bid.
Destra's boss, Domenic Carosa, was quoted on Friday as saying the company would continue its due diligence on Beyond, but the takeover is now off because the volatility in world markets and tightening lending conditions means it was too hard to raise the necessary money.
Beyond is valued at $76.7 million but this was too rich for Destra, which has seen its market capitalisation plunge by a third to just under $60 million in recent weeks.
That's despite having the likes of Lachlan Murdoch and Prime Television among its shareholders.
Destra bought a blocking stake in Beyond last November to spoil a $74.6 million takeover by Mariner Financial, an investment firm associated with Beyond's chairman, Ian Ingram.
Mariner let its $1.25 a share offer lapse before Christmas, after Beyond's board withdrew its support to see what Destra might have to offer. Silly move by the Beyond board because the bird in the hand has gone.
