INCO

Inco Ltd. (N CN): The world's No. 2 nickel miner and Phelps Dodge Corp. said they canceled their June 25 agreement to merge, under which Phelps would have paid about C$87.66 for each Inco share, based on the closing price on Sept. 1.

Inco will pay Phelps a $125 million U.S. termination fee and an additional $350 million if it agrees to an alternative takeover deal by Sept.7. Inco Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Scott Hand said in a release on Canada Newswire that it was clear `` that Inco shareholders were not going to support the Phelps transaction.''

Separately, Cia. Vale do Rio Doce, the world's largest iron- ore producer, said U.S. and Canadian antitrust regulators cleared its C$19.4 billion ($17.2 billion) bid for Inco. The Canadian Competition Bureau and similar U.S. antitrust authorities cleared the bid to proceed, Fernando Thompson, a spokesman for Rio de Janeiro-based Vale, said on Sept. 1 by telephone. Inco fell 33 cents, or 0.4 percent, to C$85.86.

This from Bloomberg....

I wonder are they interested in any part of IOC....Stay tuned and watch the goings on....Hey John Hickey - you watching all of this - or is it going on around you?