The Panel, Geoff Brunsdon, John Humphrey and John Keeves (sitting President), declined to conduct proceedings on an application by London City Equities Limited in relation to Gro-Aust Holdings Limited’s bid for Tranzact Financial Services Limited. The application concerned (among other things) timely provision of information, disclosure in Tranzact’s independent expert report and whether ASIC’s policy on joint bids applied. The Panel considered that there was no reasonable prospect that it would declare the circumstances unacceptable.

The Panel, Elizabeth Bryan, Tony Osmond and Jane Sheridan (sitting President), declined to make a declaration of unacceptable circumstances in relation to the affairs of Tigers Realm Coal Limited after the parties restructured a proposed equity raising by Tigers Realm. The application primarily concerned association between Tigers Realm Minerals Pty Limited and other shareholders and each of BV Mining Holding Limited and Russian Direct Investment Fund, potential investors in Tigers Realm, through the equity raising. The parties amended the share subscription agreements and related documents and offered undertakings, which the Panel accepted.

The Panel, Robin Bishop, Ewen Crouch AM and Sophie Mitchell (sitting President), declined to conduct proceedings on an application by Coastal Capital International, Ltd. in relation to the affairs of the PaperlinX SPS Trust. The application primarily concerned allegations that the bid by PaperlinX Limited for the SPS Trust was coercive to holders of step-up preference securities and was prohibited by the SPS terms. The Panel considers that the circumstances complained of existed from the SPS Trust’s inception or were the ordinary outcome of a change of ownership proposal and there were no grounds for interfering with the bid.