Take-over offer rejected by Odlins

Press, 9 November 1983, Page 47

Take-over offer rejected by Odlins

Odlins, Ltd, has rejected the $68.4M take-over offer from N.Z. Forest Products, Ltd.

After the Odlins board had met to consider the offer yesterday, the company’s acting chairman, Mr D. L. Hazard, said it had “no hesitation in stating that it did not recommend the offer for the reason that it is in the board’s opinion inadequate. “The market has already indicated this by setting a current price in excess of that offer. ‘Directors draw attention also to the fact that N.Z. Forest Products has given no indication of its intentions as regards to Odlins in the event of a successful take-over, as they are required to do under Section 611 of the take-over code of the Stock Exchange,” he said.

When it was made last Wednesday, the Forest Products offer, including one of its fully paid shares plus 80c cash for every four Odlins ordinary shares, valued the Odlins shares at about 141 c each. They were then selling at 112 c.

The largest parcel of Odlins ordinary shares traded on the stock market yesterday was 412,672 at 162 c. Other sales ranged from that figure down to 150 c.

Two special sales were also made: 1,519,300 at 165 c and 1,350,000 at 168 c. These were the first large special sales made since the Forest Products offer, and they accounted for 10.12 per cent of the total ordinary share capital in Odlins. Before the take-over offer, Forest Products held 7.4 per cent of Odlins shares.

Meanwhile, the Auckland brokers, Morrow and Benjamin, advised the exchange yesterday that their client for 10 per cent of Odlins capital had withdrawn from the market and had sold his holding to other interested parties. The client’s identity has not been revealed.

Mr L. M. Papps, the chairman of both Odlins and Forest Products, yesterday resigned from the Odlins board both as the chairman and a director. A statement said the decision was made to avoid any embarrassment which could arise from the take-over. The statement said the Odlins board understood the situation and accepted the resignation, but with considerable regret because Mr Papps had made a long and valuable contribution to the company.

Mr Bruce Judge, a Bunting director, said last evening that his company had stopped buying shares in Odlins. The company would make a - statement to the stock exchange today on its shareholding, but he would not say whether the shareholding acquired was long term, or whether he had had discussions with N.Z. Forest Products.