Canadian mining giant Noranda Inc provided a surprise on November 16 with its announcement that it is no longer in exclusive talks on a takeover deal with China's Minmetals Corp. The two had been in takeover discussions since late September and the expectation was that the huge Chinese company would acquire Canada's biggest metals company by sales. But after more than seven weeks of negotiations, Noranda opened itself to a bidding war. Business reporter Lisa Wright of the Toronto Star wrote (November 17), "Analysts said the new wrinkle in the lengthy saga of who will finally gobble up Noranda signals the Toronto-based nickel and copper producer is hoping for an auction to take place and is unhappy that the Chinese government-run Minmetals may have low-balled (Noranda owner) Brascan from the initially expected price tag."
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