North BH bids $Aust771M for EZ Industries

Press, 14 June 1984, Page 28

North BH bids $Aust771M for EZ Industries

North Broken Hill Holdings, Ltd, the mining and investment group, has launched the third biggest take-over bid in Australian history in an attempt to win control of its associate basemetal mining company, EZ Industries, Ltd. The sAust77l.2M bid for the 30.5 per cent-owned Tasmanian and New South Wales miner ranks behind the purchase of Utah International Inc. by Broken Hill Proprietary Company, Ltd (SUS 2.4 billion), and the acquisition of Carlton and United Breweries, Ltd, by Elders IXL, Ltd (sAust92oM) as the largest take-over yet seen in Australia. Brokers said that the bid had been expected for a number of years and believed the two-tiered offer would succeed, as it was pitched at a generous premium to EZ’s average share market price this year. The managing director of North BH, Mr Mark

Bethwaite, said that he hoped the bid would be regarded as a “friendly” one by the EZ directors and shareholders. Mr Bethwaite. a former Olympic yachtsman who assumed control of the mining company last April, said that a merger was in the interest of both companies.

An EZ spokesman said the company had no comment to make on the takeover bid. EZ is valued at sAust77l.2M under North BH's offer of two shares plus 150 c cash for each EZ share, and under the direct cash bid of 600 c a share it is valued at sAust746.4M.

“We are seeking to as.sume management control in EZ, not necessarily 100 per cent control at this stage,” Mr Bethwaite said. “If it goes that way (100 per cent control), fine, if not, we are quite relaxed with more than 50 per cent,” he said.