Manganese and nickel miner Consolidated Minerals has welcomed an increased A$4.70 (202.5p) bid from Ukrainian billionaire Gennadiy Bogolyubov's Palmary Group.

The new Palmaris offer is worth 20 cents (8.65p) a share more than the recently improved bid from Pallinghurst, a group headed by former BHP Billiton boss Brian Gilbertson. The City Takeover Panel recently obliged Pallinghurst to withdraw 'top-up notes' accompanying its offer, designed to match better terms from Palmary, so the ConsMins board is recommending the Palmary terms – 'in the absence of a superior proposal' from Pallinghurst or anyone else.

This development has sent AIM-quoted ConsMins shares, recommended by Growth Company Investor last year at 66.56p, up 12p this morning to 207p. This values Western Australia-based ConsMins at £477 million.

Elsewhere, another AIM miner, Kazakhstan and Russia-focused Celtic Resources, has accepted an improved offer from Russian magnate Alexey Mordashev's Severstal steel group. This is worth 280p a share immediately, rising to 290p once 80 per cent acceptances have been received.

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Other company articles:
Palmary ups ConsMins bid			14/11/2007
ConsMins backs Palmary bid			18/10/2007
Suitor ups ConsMins bid			12/10/2007
Exploration Insights			05/10/2007
ConsMins welcomes better offer			06/09/2007