Fletcher's Crane bid clears last regulatory hurdle in NZ

Fletcher's Crane bid clears last regulatory hurdle with NZ approval

By Jason Krupp

Feb. 25 (BusinessDesk) - Fletcher Building Ltd's proposed takeover of Crane Group has cleared its last regulatory hurdle after New Zealand's Commerce Commission approved the acquisition of the Australia-based pipe maker.

The announcement comes after New Zealand's Overseas Investment Office and Australian's antitrust and foreign investment watchdog approved the deal.

“As a result of the New Zealand Commerce Commission clearance, Fletcher Building has now received all necessary regulatory approvals in relation to our offer for Crane,” chief executive Jonathan Ling said in a statement today. "With the offer being unanimously recommended by the Crane board of directors, we encourage Crane shareholders to accept the offer without delay so that the 90% minimum acceptance condition can be satisfied.

With the March 11 deadline on the A$10.07 cash-and-scrip offer looming and only 36% of the takeover target's shares in the bag, the Auckland-based company said it will strip out a number of conditions attached to the deal.

The only ones remaining are the 90% minimum acceptance, and the “conduct of business”, “no distributions” and “no prescribed occurrences” conditions, which it said contain standard protections placed on the Crane Board.

Fletcher also said it will also accelerate the dispatch of payment to shareholders to within 7 business days once the recommended offer becomes unconditional.

The shares fell 0.4% to $8.55, and have gained 11% so far this year.

(BusinessDesk)

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