ARN faces short-term restrictions on Southern Cross shares
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The news: The Takeovers Panel has denied a request from Sandon Capital seeking to immediately lift restrictions on ARN Media’s voting stake in Southern Cross Austereo.
The context: The Panel announced its decision on Wednesday, which will see restrictions lifted on 6.83% of its 14.8% stake in Southern Cross in 3% increments every six months effective from the beginning of July this year. ARN will see the first restrictions ease in six months time.
Southern Cross said in a statement to the ASX on Wednesday that the decision means it is likely that ARN Media will still face restrictions on “some or all” of its 14.8% stake in Southern Cross at the company’s next general meeting. Southern Cross has held its last two annual general meetings in November.
Gabriel Radzyminski’s Sandon Capital submitted its application to the Takeovers Panel to free up ARN to vote its full stake in Southern Cross in a bid to spill the Southern Cross board as part of an activist campaign that went public in May. ARN is Southern Cross’ largest shareholder.
The activist fund, which now has an 8.1% stake in Southern Cross, wrote to the board and major shareholders earlier this year describing recent decisions as a “thinly-veiled bid” to secure short-term shareholder support.
Sandon sought to oust chairman Heith Mackay-Cruise, along with directors Ido Leffler, Carole Campbell and Marina Go, at the company’s next general meeting.
What they said: “Among other things, the Panel was not persuaded of any material change in circumstances or other reason which would justify varying the existing orders in the manner requested by Sandon,” the Takeovers Panel said in a statement.
“However, the Panel noted the effluxion of time and that the existing orders provided liberty to apply. On that basis the Panel decided to vary the existing orders on a prospective basis by introducing a mechanism to lift the voting, disposal and other restrictions relating to the relevant shares.”
The source: ASX
