[Sydney, AUSTRALIA] Having failed to achieve the mandatory 90 percent shareholder approval for
its bid to acquire eisa, Austar said today it was “not in a
position, and [did] not intend to compulsorily acquire shares in eisa.” But
this evening the company announced in a statement headed “Austar continues
acquisition attempt for eisa” that it intended to pursue the acquisition of
the business following the close of its offer for all of the shares in eisa.
A meeting of the eisa board today resolved to continue discussions with
Austar concerning the future of eisa. “We are sorry that an insufficient
number of shareholders accepted our offer,” said John Porter, Austar’s CEO.
“We believe that our offer was reasonable and this was supported by the fact
that 87 percent of shareholders were willing to accept the offer. Austar
still believes that eisa’s assets are attractive and offer a strategic fit
with Austar’s. Therefore, we intend to continue discussions with eisa with a
view to acquiring the eisa business.”
At the close of the offer period on Friday, no binding contracts were formed
between eisa and the shareholders who accepted Austar’s 20 cent per share
offer. Only 87 percent of the 90 percent needed to accept Austar’s $24.4
million bid had accepted by Friday’s 7pm deadline.
