Gloucester Coal is expected to make an announcement on Thursday about a potential takeover.

Gloucester shares have been in a trading halt since Tuesday, and on Thursday were suspended at the request of the company.

The request was made “in connection with the potential merger proposal”, the company said.

There has been speculation Gloucester has been in talks with Yancoal Australia, owned by China’s Yanzhou Coal Mining, about an $8 billion merger that would create Australia’s largest independent coal producer.

Gloucester is a coking and thermal coal producer with operations in NSW and Queensland.

It produced five million tonnes last year and a combined entity would have production capacity of 15 million tonnes next year.