Take-over bids increase

Press, 3 August 1985, Page 24

Take-over bids increase

PA Wellington Merger or take-over proposals to the Commerce Commission have increased again during the three months to June 30. The commission said yesterday that 104 applications were made during this quarter as against 71 in the same period last year and an average of 70 a quarter over the whole of the previous year. During the previous year, applications were up on average by 25 per quarter from the year before that. The commission chairman, Mr John Collinge, said it was as though the increased activity had gone into overdrive from a previously high level of activity. He said it was not easy to pin-point the reasons for the further increase in the activity. However, there was evident re-structuring in a number of industries and there was an increasing incidence of competing bids in the case of a number of companies. Both of these signs were healthy as companies appeared to have reacted to current economic circumstances and the need to regroup with the advent of CER. Mr Collinge said it was also pleasing that there were comapplications. Shares would be gratified that there appeared to be increasing competition in the market for control of companies.