What's New
BY Sarah Patterson May 17, 2024
What's New November 23, 2023
ARN takeover of SCA found to have “unacceptable circumstances”
That’s that then.
Or is it?
The Australian Government Takeovers Panel has made a declaration of unacceptable circumstances around ARN and Anchorage Capital Partner’s (ACP) June acquisition of 14.8% of SCA shares.
Allan Gray Australia Pty Ltd at the time had voting power in both SCA and ARN, and with the acquisition, this power increased to 31.24%, which is in contravention of s606.
Allan Gray and ARN have submitted that the contravention was inadvertent, but the panel has still deemed the circumstances unacceptable and did not consider it against the public interest to make this declaration.
Submission related to these orders are due next Wednesday November 29 at 5pm (Melbourne time), but this currently reads that ARN and ACP cannot proceed any further with their takeover ambitions.
This doesn’t mean the takeover “cannot proceed any further”, it just means the Takeover Panel agrees there was a breach in notification rules and this was unacceptable. The Panel hasn’t made any orders in response to the breach, and parties are invited to submit their thoughts / proposals for the orders by the middle of next week. THEN the Takeover Panel will consider them and make orders in relation to the breach, and MAYBE in relation to the takeover bid.