Wormaid bid proceeds

Press, 15 October 1976, Page 16

Wormaid bid proceeds

NZPA Sydney Shareholders of Wormald International, Ltd, have given the green light to the first step to take over Matter and Platt, Ltd, the giant United Kingdom engineering and fire protection group.

An extraordinary general meeting unanimously approved a private placement of 2.5 million Wormaid shares at a price of sAust2.Bo each.

But the meeting was not entirely smooth-sailing; a shareholder and investment adviser, Mr Paul Haege, questioned the relatively high price Wormald was paying for Matter and Platt.

Wormaid is offering 120 pence for each share com-

pared to a price of 20 pence for Matter and Platt shares at the time the offer was announced.

“To my mind for Wormaid to pay a price equivalent to 10 times earnings is out of the question,” Mr Haege said. “It would place a heavy burden on our company. A price five to six times earnings would seem to be more appropriate.” Wormaid’s managing director (Mr J. W. Utz) defended the Wormaid offer. “There was no way we could take over Matter and Platt without paying a price equivalent to 10, times earnings,” Mr Utz said. “Matter and Platt have a net asset-backing equal to 120 pence or better.

“If we did not take over that company then we would be locked out of many countries of operation Matter and Platt are big in. “If we miss this opportunity, it will never occur again,” Mr Utz said.