Melewar Steel Ventures, which pledged a stake in Gindalbie Metals against a loan from a collapsed Australian broker, will offer to repay the debt in an attempt to reclaim the shares.

Melewar, owned by Malaysian steelmaker Melewar Industrial Group Bhd., used shares in the Australian iron ore company as security for a loan from Opes Prime Stockbroking. Melewar is due in a Sydney court on April 10 to seek the 6.2% stake after regulators last week began an investigation into Opes after the discovery of ''irregularities'' in some of its accounts.

''We are quite confident we have a strong argument,'' Melewar Industrial Chief Operating Officer K.C. Lim said in a phone interview today. ''It's clearly stated we are the beneficial owners of the shares.''

Melewar Industrial, a maker of pipes, coils and bars, has sufficient cash to repay the $11.1 million loan from Opes, Lim said. Melewar Industrial plans to keep the Gindalbie shares for the ''long term,'' he said.

Gindalbie shares today climbed 3 cents, or 4.2%, to 75 cents at the 4:10 p.m. Sydney time close, valuing the company at $384 million. Melewar Industrial dropped for a fourth day in Kuala Lumpur, losing as much as 2.2% to 90 sen and traded at 90.5 sen at 12:29 p.m. in Kuala Lumpur.

Melewar Industrial, whose Chairman Tunku Abdullah Tuanku Abdul Rahman is a member of one of Malaysia's royal families, said yesterday it won a temporary court injunction to halt the sale of its Gindalbie shares. The total potential loss is 38 million ringgit ($13 million), Melewar Industrial said.

The receiver of Opes has ordered the sale of the 6.2% Gindalbie stake, or 32 million shares, that was pledged against the Opes loan, Perth-based Gindalbie said yesterday. Melewar wasn't seeking to sell its remaining 7.6% stake, which isn't subject to any pledge, Gindalbie said.

''This is a shareholder matter that doesn't directly involve Gindalbie but Melewar is a long-term shareholder,'' Michael Weir, a spokesman for Perth-based Gindalbie, said today by phone. ''We value our relationship with Melewar and continue to offer what support we can in respect of this issue.''

Bloomberg