Title : Battle of the billionaires: Forrest attempts to derail Rinehart's Atlas Iron takeover
link : Battle of the billionaires: Forrest attempts to derail Rinehart's Atlas Iron takeover
Battle of the billionaires: Forrest attempts to derail Rinehart's Atlas Iron takeover
The battle between two of Australia's richest people to take over West Australian miner Atlas Iron is set to get nasty — with an attempt to halt the bid in the Australian Government's Takeovers Panel.
Fortescue Metals, through a subsidiary, is challenging the planned takeover of Atlas by a company which billionaire Gina Rinehart controls.
Mining magnate Andrew Forrest controls Fortescue, and his company is seeking to prevent the Atlas shares changing hands because of what it says is a "misinformed market".
Last week, a majority of the Atlas board recommended that its shareholders approve a $390 million takeover by Redstone Corporation — which is owned by Mrs Rinehart's company, Hancock Prospecting.
Atlas, a small iron ore miner, has been at the centre of a bidding war because of its rights to berths at Port Hedland, the world's biggest iron ore port.
Rival bidder Mineral Resources withdrew its $280 million takeover bid for Atlas last Thursday.
Fortescue also took a nearly 20 per cent stake in Atlas so it could potentially block a takeover.
What is being argued?
In an attempt to derail Mrs Rinehart's takeover, Fortescue subsidiary NCZ Investments has accused her company Redstone of misinforming the market in its bidder's statement.
One of the allegations is that Redstone made "misleading statements and material omissions regarding [its] intentions in relation to Atlas's business, assets and employees and Redstone's ability to achieve those intentions."
Redstone is also accused of not fully informing the market about the implications of the takeover on a major loan taken out by Atlas Iron and how Hancock Prospecting will repay the debt.
The Fortescue subsidiary also argued that the "combined operation of the ... misleading statements and omissions and the structure of Redstone's bid has a coercive effect on Atlas shareholders to accept the bid."
It has sought an interim order to stop Ms Rinehart's company from circulating its bidder's statement and releasing other information about the takeover bid while the panel considers the challenge.
In addition, NCZ Investments has also called on the Takeovers Panel to stop Hancock Prospecting and Redstone from buying more Atlas shares until "further and corrective disclosure is released".
The firm has also asked the panel to make orders to cancel purchases of Atlas shares by Redstone and Hancock or their associates during the period in which it alleges the market was misinformed.
NCZ Investments also noted it can prevent Redstone from taking over Atlas because of its 19.9 per cent stake.
The Takeovers Panel said a panel has not been appointed at this stage and no decision has been made whether or not to hear the case.
Fortescue Metals shares had fallen 1.7 per cent to $4.55 at 2:40pm (AEST).
Atlas Iron shares were steady at 4.3 cents.
Thus Article Battle of the billionaires: Forrest attempts to derail Rinehart's Atlas Iron takeover
You are now reading the article Battle of the billionaires: Forrest attempts to derail Rinehart's Atlas Iron takeover with the link address https://coneknews.blogspot.com/2018/06/battle-of-billionaires-forrest-attempts_26.html
Related Posts :
Machines vs. cashiers: Why shoppers are so divided over self-checkout- An often-overlooked risk, the science of slips and falls can be life-saving
- Ancient, fossilized spiders still have weird and glowing eyes
- Polar vortex may have killed significant levels of invasive species of insects
- Banning Huawei from Canada's 5G networks could be costly for taxpayers
0 Response to "Battle of the billionaires: Forrest attempts to derail Rinehart's Atlas Iron takeover"
Post a Comment