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Glencore International PLC's (GLEN.LN) bid to buy out minorities in nickel miner Minara Resources Ltd. (MRE.AU) moved a step closer to success Monday after the target's board recommended Glencore's bid, which values the target at A$1.02 billion (US$1.05 billion).

The takeover would be Glencore's first large-scale corporate takeover since it was listed on the London and Hong Kong stock exchanges in May.

Minara said in a statement that an independent expert's report by KPMG found fair value for the company between 70 cents and 97 cents, compared to the 87 cents offered by Glencore.

Glencore already controls 73.4% of Minara shares and 40% of its key asset--the Murrin Murrin nickel mine--and the takeover is widely expected to go ahead. A Minara board committee, which excludes two directors who are also directors of Glencore, said Monday that shareholders should accept the offer.

The report caused Glencore shares, which have traded around 88 cents since the offer was announced Aug. 24, to drop marginally to the 87 cent offer price.

Alick Wong, an analyst at Louis Capital Markets in Hong Kong, said the recommendation and positive expert's report had extinguished hopes that the board could push for any raised offer.

"People were betting for a higher offer but due to the market volatility we're having now it's not very likely now," he said.

Some analysts had argued that, in spite of Glencore's dominance of Minara's shareholder register, the timing of the offer was opportunistic. The London Metal Exchange nickel price has fallen sharply in recent months and production targets for Murrin Murrin have been slashed due to a failure in the mine's processing plant announced June 30.

But the company's chief executive, Peter Johnston, said last Wednesday there was "no guarantee at all" that improved terms would be forthcoming.

-By David Fickling, Dow Jones Newswires; +61 2 8272 4689; david.fickling@dowjones.com

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