DuluxGroup remains hopeful it can nail down its $210 million takeover bid for reluctant takeover target Alesco within weeks.
Dulux on Tuesday again extended the deadline for Alesco shareholders to accept its offer to October 2, just two weeks after extending it until September 11.
The move came after the Takeovers Panel rejected calls by Alesco to investigate what it called misleading claims being made by Dulux in relation to the offer.
Dulux did not comment on the Takeover Panel’s decision, but said in a statement that shareholders with 44.3 per cent of Alesco’s stock had now accepted its offer.
Alesco, meanwhile, took the unusual step of setting up its own facility for shareholders who want to accept Dulux’s offer and receive an additional dividend of up to 27 cents from the takeover target.
However, Alesco is still urging shareholders to reject the Dulux offer and says it can only afford to pay the additional dividend if Dulux ends up with 90 per cent of its shares and there is appropriate funding in place.
“The ALSAF (Alesco Shareholder Acceptance Facility) will provide shareholders protection from the risk of losing their shares to an unconditional DuluxGroup offer that will result in no additional dividends being paid to shareholders,” Alesco chairman Mark Luby said in a statement.
Dulux and Alesco have been locked in a battle over dividend payments linked to the takeover offer.
Dulux managing director Patrick Houlihan said there was substantial common ground between the two companies on price and they were close to a final agreement.
“I’m hopeful that between now and 25 September the Alesco board will see that a full recommendation directed to its shareholders is the logical next step,” he said.
“In the meantime, we will continue to progress our offer to provide a certain outcome for Alesco shareholders.”
Dulux’s offer is $2.05 a share, incorporating up to 42 cents a share of fully franked dividends.
But Alesco says it will only support an offer that incorporates the ability to pay fully franked dividends of up to 75 cents a share.
The dividend components offered by Dulux and demanded by Alesco each include 15 cents of dividends already determined and payable to Alesco shareholders on September 7.
Alesco has previously said it would recommend an offer incorporating its discretion to pay an additional fully franked dividend of up to 60 cents per share to bring the aggregate fully franked dividends under the offer up to 75 cents per share.
Alesco shares closed 3.5 cents lower at $1.875 while Dulux rose one cent to $3.30.
