FACTORS BOARD SUPPORTS BID

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31993, 21 May 1969, Page 19

FACTORS BOARD SUPPORTS BID

The directors of Factors, Ltd, the Australian company which owns Holeproof Industries of New Zealand, Ltd, have advised their shareholders to accept the $9.2m take-over offer of Dunlop, Australia, Ltd.

Dunlop is offering one 100 c ordinary share for every four 50c Factors shares, and $2 in cash for each 200 c preference share. This values Factors’ 15,169,183 ordinary shares at about 57.05 c. They sold in New Zealand before the bid at 40c. The offer, which is subject to 90 per cent acceptance, will make Dunlop a force on the New Zealand textile scene.

Holeproof lifted its profit 21.6 per cent to $677,343 in the 1967-68 year, representing an earning rate of 12.8 per cent on shareholders’ funds.

The $L5m ordinary capital in Holeproof is Factors’ main asset, and Factors is all that remains of the ill-fated Korman empire. The Korman family, which is still represented in the management of Factors by Mr Hile! Korman, is believed to have sold an 18.8 equity stake in the company to an interest other than Dunlop. The “Australian Financial Review” said this week that

the sale was not made to thwart the Dunlop bid. The chairman of Dunlop (Mr E. Dunshea) said he believed the unnamed buyer would accept his company’s offer. The sale was made at 50c a share, while Dunlop’s bid is worth 57.5 c, and a key factor behind the deal is believed to be the Kormans’ preference for cash while Dunlop prefers share exchanges as consideration. .