Noranda Inc. serves notice of Falconbridge share plan

Noranda already holds 20.02% of Falconbridge’s outstanding shares but the resource giant has made no secret of its intention to expand its position to at least 30%.

Only the high price of Falconbridge shares — $31.13 on the Toronto Stock Exchange — has prevented Noranda from carrying out its plan.

In a notice filed with the Toronto and Montreal exchanges, Noranda says it intends to make normal course purchases of up to 7.5 million or 10% of Falconbridge’s outstanding shares.

Stock market regulations allow shareholders with more than 10% of a company’s stock to purchase an additional 5% during any 90-day period, although they are under no obligation to do so.

Purchases may begin May 30 and the notice is expected to expire Nov 25, 1989.

Most of the 15.1 million Falcon- bridge shares now held by Noranda were acquired last summer from large institutional investors after the nickel miner had successfully outbid Noranda for a 24.7% control block of its own shares which were previously held by Placer Dome Inc. (TSE).

While Noranda is attracted by Falconbridge’s Kidd Creek, Ont., copper-zinc operation, the high price of the nickel miner’s stock makes it extremely unlikely that Noranda will buy any more shares in the near future, anal ysts say.

Noranda paid an average of $22.45 for the 15 million Falconbridge shares it acquired last year. To keep its stake above 20%, Noranda also acquired 187,700 Falconbridge shares in March at an average price of $28.64.

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