New Hope signs up potential suitors

Up to 15 different parties have signed couranium ore separation machinery and equipmentnfidentiality agreements with Australian coal miner New Hope Corp in considering an offer potentially worth more than $5 billion for the miner, a person familiar with the process said today.

However, any takeover would be unlikely to be resolved until well into the new year, the person said: "We're certainly expecting the process will extend into 2012."