Source: Wall Street Journal                         Date: 12 October, 2011

Australia's New Hope is seeking a buyout. The firm may have signaled a top for Australia’s coal mining firms by doing so.
Last year New Hope signaled to Macarthur Coal its interest, but Macarthur instead went ahead to pursue a deal with Northern Energy, which eventually failed. Last week the company announced it was seeking a possible buyer. The company may be worth about AUD 5 billion, including AUD 1.7 billion in net cash and deposits on its balance sheet.
Although Australia is the world's largest coal exporter by volume, the number of locally listed companies extracting coal in Australia is shrinking. Australia's inbound coal takeovers have been worth around AUD 12 billion in 2011.  Most of Australia's coal is now owned by heavy weights such as BHP Billiton, Xstrata, and Rio Tinto. Emerging market companies such as India's GVK Power & Infrastructure and Adani Enterprises are also joining the scene.
If current foreign bids for Coal & Allied Industries and Macarthur Coal in addition to New Hope, only five independent coal producers will remain on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Last year Australian coal producers produced 10 million tons of coal, or three percent of the country's total. Valuations have declined because of the deal targets have thinned out. Falling coal prices and concerns about a global economic crisis also have played a role.