TP03/090
In Takeovers Panel media release TP03/85, the Panel advised that it had received an application from BreakFree Limited (BreakFree) pursuant to section 657A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (the Act) for a declaration of unacceptable circumstances in relation to an amended bidder's statement (the Bidder's Statement) by S8 Limited (S8) concerning its takeover bid for BreakFree.
In that release, the Panel advised that it was aware that the parties were in discussions concerning the potential for an agreed resolution of the issues raised by BreakFree, and would await the parties' advice as to the results of their discussions before conducting proceedings.
Whilst the discussions between the parties resulted in a number of changes to the Bidder's Statement which addressed some of BreakFree's concerns, in the end there remained outstanding issues in relation to the document in the minds of both BreakFree and ASIC.
Based on these outstanding concerns, the Panel decided to commence proceedings in relation to the BreakFree 03 application. On 19 September, the Panel issued a brief which identified the issues that it believed required further consideration.
In response to the Panel's brief S8 has requested the opportunity to prepare a further revised Bidder's Statement to address the issues identified by the Panel, ASIC and BreakFree.
The Panel has decided to allow S8 until 12 noon on Monday 29 September 2003 to prepare its further revised Bidder's Statement. Once that document has been received and reviewed by the parties and the Panel, the Panel will determine whether there are any remaining issues to be considered in the BreakFree 03 proceedings.
George Durbridge,
Director, Takeovers Panel
Level 47 Nauru House, 80 Collins Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph: +61 3 9655 3553
george.durbridge@takeovers.gov.au
