PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has revoked an interim stop order in relation to ASX-listed TerraCom’s bid for South Africa-focused coal miner Universal Coal.
The Australian watchdog at the end of February imposed the stop order, impeding TerraCom’s ability to transfer shares under its takeover offer for Universal.
TerraCom’s 33.5c a share offer for Universal consists of 10c in cash and 0.6026 new TerraCom shares for each Universal share held.
TerraCom on Thursday said that the lifting of the interim stop order was "extremely positive" for both TerraCom and Universal shareholders as the processing of acceptances could restart and that the offer consideration could be paid to accepting security holders as soon as practicably possible.
TerraCom noted that acceptances received to date, when aggregated with the company’s existing shareholding in Universal, meant that TerraCom had the right to exercise some 55% of the voting rights attached to Universal shares.
Universal has meanwhile questioned ASIC’s reasoning for issuing the interim stop order, saying that the directors of Universal considered the information to be potentially material to shareholders, and was "considering options" in respect of this issue.
Furthermore, the company noted that legal proceedings against TerraCom in the High Court of Justice of England and Wales were ongoing, and has again urged shareholders not to take any action with regards to the unsolicited bid.