New Hope not selling itself for $5 billion

Australian coal producer New Hope Corp will not put itself up for auction for more than $5 billion after a five-month sale process failed to come up with a deal, Reuters reported.

The Queensland-based miner has been entertaining bids since October, with potential suitors including Tata Steel, Korean consortium Aditya Birla and Shenhua Group of China.

Reuters reported New Hope chairman Robert Millner saying that tighter credit and local opposition to the expansion of its Acland coal mine may have been factors that put off bidders.

The company’s shares fell 11% on the news, then recovered to above where the stock was trading before the auction.