CSP00/012
The Takeovers Panel Review Panel today announced that it had ordered Smorgon Distribution Ltd (Smorgon) to delay until 5.00p.m. on Friday 2 June the dispatch of the bidder's statement in relation to its offers for all of the ordinary shares in Email Ltd (Email). Amongst other things, Email had applied to the Panel for an interim order under section 657E of the Corporations Law (Law) for dispatch of the bidder's statement to be restrained until Email's application had been fully resolved.
The Review Panel will allow earlier dispatch if all outstanding matters are resolved before the sitting Panel.
The sitting President of the Review Panel, Mr Brett Heading, said that the additional information that the Review Panel had received from Smorgon, Email and ASIC meant it was no longer clear that the balance of investors' interests lay with early dispatch. He said that normally the Panel would seek to get documents to investors as early as possible, and that the Review Panel supported the initial decision of the sitting Panel on the information that had been available to it. He said that the further delay would allow the matters to be fully resolved before dispatch.
The members of the Review Panel are, Mr Brett Heading of McCullough Robertson, Brisbane (sitting President); Mr Les Taylor General Counsel of the Commonwealth Bank (deputy President); and Ms Maria Manning, Company Secretary of Queensland Cotton Ltd.
Nigel Morris
Director
Corporations and Securities Panel
Level 47 Nauru House
80 Collins Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
(03) 9655 3501
