New twist in Murray & Roberts takeover saga: Aton buys a quarter of Aveng
The potential hostile takeover of Murray & Roberts (M&R) by Aton has taken a new twist with the German investment group buying more than a quarter of the target company of its target company.Aveng issued a regulatory filing on Friday saying Aton is now its 25.42% owner.Aton appears to have used Aveng’s recent rights issue to acquire its stake. On Tuesday, Aveng said it had narrowly missed selling all the rights issue shares it had offered. Of its R500m target, Aveng raised R493.2m.Aton’s decision to invest in Aveng contradicts its previous stance, that the proposed deal "clearly demonstrates that M&R’s management is putting its interests ahead of those of shareholders and other stakeholders".Aton voted its 44.05% shares in M&R against the proposed acquisition of Aveng at a shareholder meeting on June 19.M&R, however, managed to muster sufficient support from minority shareholders to get the resolution passed with 52% votes in favour. According to M&R, Aton was only supported by 0.37...
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