Alcan Shares Eclipse Alcoa's Offer Price In Pre-Market Action

Shares of Alcan (AL) were up more than 25% in pre-market trading before 8 a.m. ET on Monday morning, with the stock being bid up above the takeover offer price of US$73.25 per share from Alcoa Inc. (AA).

Alcan shares were up US$15.47 to US$76.50 at 7:39 a.m. ET as investors may be anticipating a bidding war for the world's second largest aluminum maker. Alcoa is number one.

Alcoa's bid, which comes after months of speculation that Alcan could be a target of other global giants, consists of US$58.60 in cash and 0.4108 of a share of Alcoa common stock for each outstanding common share of Alcan.

The US$33-billion offer represents a 20% premium to Alcan's closing price on May 4, 2007, when it was at an all-time high.

AL-AA 1-yr chart: