TAKEOVER BID
M&R investors win from takeover special committee’s rulings
The committee rules that Aton must offer all Murray & Roberts’s shareholders the same offer it made to Allan Gray
In what has become one of the most fractious battles for control seen on the JSE in recent years, the special committee of the Takeover Regulation Panel has been forced to make rulings against both Murray & Roberts (M&R) and German-based conglomerate Aton. M&R shareholders appear to be the chief beneficiaries of the takeover special committee’s unprecedented intervention, which was prompted by separate complaints lodged by Aton and M&R against each other. Following a two-day hearing into the respective complaints, the committee ruled last Friday that Aton must offer all M&R’s shareholders the same offer it made to Allan Gray. It also ruled that the conduct of the independent board of M&R constituted a contravention of the Companies Act, which prohibits target companies from taking action that would frustrate an existing offer. In addition, the committee ordered that Henry Laas, in his capacity as CEO of M&R, refrain from making any public statements regarding or concerning the Aton ...
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