KEY POINTS:
Phelps Dodge, one of the most famous names in US mining, moved from ledger books into history books yesterday as Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold completed a US$25.9 billion ($36.9 billion) acquisition to form the world's largest publicly traded copper company.
Bear Stearns immediately raised its investment rating of the new Freeport, saying the acquisition of Phelps Dodge would increase Freeport shareholders' earnings straight away.
And BMO Capital Markets raised its share target price for the mining company and revised its estimates, forecasting increased earnings and copper and gold deliveries.
Freeport chief executive Richard Adkerson said the combined company - to be called Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold - would have long-lived, geographically diverse assets and significant proven and probable reserves of copper, gold and molybdenum.
Freeport, whose only major project up to now has been the vast Grasberg gold mine in Indonesia, acquires Phelps' mines in South America and the US Southwest, as well as the rich Tenke Fungurume copper and cobalt project in Democratic Congo.
Freeport shares closed up US$1.73 at US$62.44. Phelps' stock, on its last day of trading, finished up US97c at US$129.47.
- REUTERS
