Australian miner Macarthur Coal <MCC.AX> said it would delay for a week a shareholder vote on whether to take over smaller rival Gloucester Coal <GCL.AX>.

Shareholders were due to vote on Monday. That vote will now take place on April 19, the company said in a statement.

Macarthur has recommended shareholders vote for the deal with Gloucester, but noted it was aware that London-listed Xstrata Ltd <XTA.L> had approached one of its major shareholders.

The in-demand miner has this week rejected two separate bids of nearly US$3.5 billion ($4.9 billion) as suitors queue up for the world’s biggest exporter of specialist pulverised or PCI coal, a cleaner input for steelmakers’ blast furnaces.

Macarthur said it decided to delay the vote after some shareholders complained they did not have enough time to review all the information the company has recently disclosed.