In this respect Alliance warned its shareholders that there was a risk that the price of Allegiance shares may fall below the $1.10 offer price after the close of Zinifex''s offer, and that they may become minority shareholders.

""""Under all circumstances if Zinifex acquires your shares you will be paid for them – they cannot be forfeited for nil consideration,"""" the company said.

Alliance also announced that its directors of Allegiance have not received notice of any alternative or superior proposal. Zinifex and Oxiana announced plans to merge on yesterday. Zinifex already holds a 14.42% stake in Allegiance. Shares in Zinifex shed 10.5% and Oxiana''s shares fell 9.5%.

ABC extends voluntary suspension

Childcare centre operator, ABC Learning today requested the extension of its voluntary suspension by two days to enable it to conclude negotiation on the sale of part of the business.

In a letter to the exchange today, company secretary Mathew Horton said they expected trading to continue on Thursday.

""""ABC wishes to inform the market that the discussions are still continuing and the voluntary suspension is now expected to last for a period of four trading days, with trading in ABC securities recommencing on Thursday 6 March 2008,"""" wrote Horton in his letter.

ABC requested for a voluntary suspension of its securities from quotation on Thursday last week as a result of continuing discussion with respect to indications of interests that it had received for some parts of its business.

At the time it had only requested for a trading halt for three days. The company''s chief executive Eddy Groves is traveling to the U.S. to meet potential investors. The company''s share plunged last week after the release of disappointing profit results.

Banks to hike interest rates

Australia''s three biggest banks, National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac today announced that they would review their interest rates in tandem with the increase in the official cash rate by 25 basis points.

Treasurer Wayne Swan however warned banks that customers would vote with their feet if financial institutions raised mortgage rates higher than the quarter of a percentage point. The big four banks last month lifted their rates higher than the official RBA increase.

City Pacific requests trading halt

One of Australia''s largest finance brokers and property investor City Pacific today requested for a trading halt after its share fell by 50%. City Pacific''s share had shed 49.2% after hitting a morning low of 81 cents, when trading was halted before mid-day.
City Pacific is expected to respond to a query from the Australian Securities Exchange about the large movement in its share price. The firm said the trading would remain suspended until the start of normal trading on Thursday or a further announcement.

""""We expect our response to the price query received from the ASX will be the event that will end the trading halt,'''' City Pacific said.

Shares in City Pacific have fallen sharply this week after it re-released its interim results on Friday to clarify its accounts. Investors were concerned that it would be unable to refinance some of its debt.