The Canadian Press reported that Lakeside Steel Inc is extending its exclusive negotiation period with an unidentified potential buyer until January 23rd 2012.

The company said in a brief statement that further extending the negotiation period over the weekend would allow the parties to finalize definitive transaction agreements.

Meanwhile, the company said there was still no assurance that a definitive agreement will be executed or that the proposed acquisition will be consummated.

Negotiations with the purchaser, whom Lakeside has not named, appeared to hit a snag with the announcement January 10th 2012, that the potential buyer of the Ontario based steelmaker had lowered its original offer by 25%.

That announcement sent the company's shares plummeting nine cents to 19.5 cents on the TSX Venture Exchange. They have since dipped a bit further, closing at 17 cents.

The current offer, 30 cents per share or roughly CAD 58 million, is drop of 10 cents per share or CAD 19.5 million from the previous bid of 40 cents or CAD 77.5 million.

Mr Vic Alboini chairman & CEO of Lakeside has not identified the potential buyer other than to say it would be a strategic purchaser, a description that suggests it's another steelmaker or a company wanting to expand in Lakeside's key market, the growing US shale natural gas industry.

Jaguar Financial, a merchant bank headed by Mr Alboini, is the largest shareholder in Lakeside with a nearly 9% stake, while Mr Alboini personally holds more than 3% of the company.

(Sourced from www.canadianbusiness.com)