Thailand's Banpu bids $443M for Australian coal explorer

Banpu Pcl has offered to buy Mongolia-focused Australian coal explorer Hunnu Coal Ltd for A$423 million or US$443 million.

This is the first push into Mongolia's fast-growing coal industry by Thailand's largest coal miner.

The deal marks the latest acquisition for Banpu which has been expanding in Indonesia and Australia. Last year it acquired Australia's Centennial Coal for $2 billion.

It also highlights the growing race to mine coal from Mongolia to feed insatiable demand in China which relies on coal for about 70 percent of its energy. Inner Mongolia accounts for a large and growing slice of China's domestic coal supply.

The full story is available at Reuters.