MUMBAI -(Dow Jones)- Sterlite Industries Ltd. (500900.BY) said Thursday it has raised its offer price for Asarco LLC by about $500 million, following a higher offer from Grupo Mexico SAB (GMEXICO.MX). Sterlite Industries will now pay about $2.1 billion in cash and a $207.9 million copper price participation note, it said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Sterlite Industries, a unit of Vedanta Resources PLC (VED.LN), had earlier agreed to pay $1.59 billion in cash and a $207.9 million copper price participation note to buy the Arizona-based mining company. Earlier this week, Grupo Mexico raised its offer for Asarco by about $500 million to $2.2 billion plus a $280 million note. Sterlite and Grupo Mexico are locked in a bidding war to acquire Asarco, which is operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. -By Ankur Relia; Dow Jones Newswires; 91-22-6145-6112; prasenjit.bhattacharya@dowjones.com
