"4pm Thursday? I thought the deadline was 12:01am on the 24th. That would be one minute after midnight tonight, would it not?"

I have to agree with your conclusion.

From the Combination Agreement (section 6) :

(...) During the five (5) Business Days* (...), KWG shall have the opportunity, but not the obligation, to offer in writing to amend the terms of this Agreement and the Amalgamation (...)

* “Business Day” means a day, other than a Saturday or Sunday, on which the principal commercial banks located in the City of Toronto, Ontario are open for business;

A “day”, in the common sense is a 24 hours period starting just after midnight of the preceding day, and lasting at midnight (so just '...before 12:01 a.m. on June 24th, 2010...' as per the NR).

There has been five 'days' on which the T.O banks were open following the day of the determination that Cliffs' proposal was a 'Superior Proposal": 17, 18, 21, 22 and 23 of June. And the last day (ie today the 23rd) ends at midnight tonight. Let your Blackberry on, Neil!!!

GLTA.

BaBe.