Atlas Arteria mulls Chicago Skyway divestment, gets Takeovers Panel boost
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The news: Toll road operator Atlas Arteria is exploring a potential sale of its interest in the Chicago Skyway toll road, after a right-of-first-offer (ROFO) period granted to Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan expired without a deal.
The numbers: The group said its independent directors are now intending to explore “potential value realisation opportunities” relating to the “whole or part” of its 66.7% interest.
The context: The announcement came as the Takeovers Panel declined to conduct proceedings in relation to the ROFO notice issued by Atlas Arteria, following an application by a subsidiary of its suitor IFM Investors.
The ROFO notice to Ontario Teachers, which holds the remaining 33.3% interest in the Chicago Skyway toll road, was disclosed to the ASX on 6 May, nine days after the announcement of IFM’s $7 billion hostile takeover bid.
The Takeovers Panel reviewed Atlas Arteria’s decision to wait nine days after the announcement of the offer to disclose that a ROFO notice had been issued to Ontario Teachers, even though it “ought to have known that the issue of the ROFO notice breached a condition of the offer”.
However, the panel concluded the applicant had not sought final orders in respect of this alleged continuous disclosure breach, and therefore did not consider it appropriate to make further enquiries into that aspect of the application.
