BlueScope takeover prospects fade away as Ryan Stokes’ SGH plans share buyback
The market hasn’t been holding out for a deal in the short term even as ‘best and final’ restrictions expire, with the latest announcement backing that thesis.
Less than a week after SGH and its US bidding partner Steel Dynamics were freed from the legal bind against raising its $15 billion offer for BlueScope, Ryan Stokes’ industrials group has seemingly drawn another line in the sand by announcing a share buyback.
“To me, the likelihood of a deal happening in the short term has probably faded because [of BlueScope’s share price rally]... so I kind of felt that a near-term deal with Steel Dynamics and SGH has been low, and I think that’s probably reflected in what we’ve seen today”, Milford Asset Management portfolio manager Greg Cassidy told Capital Brief.
Earlier in the year, SGH and Nasdaq-listed Steel Dynamics launched a joint acquisition offer for BlueScope at $30 per share before later revising it to a best and final offer of an effective $32.35 per share.
Both offers were emphatically rejected by the BlueScope board, although chair Jane McAloon kept the door open to an approach at a higher price.
