Masthead Responds to Abano’s Rejection of Offer

News Release

Masthead Responds to Abano’s Rejection of its $5.00 Cash Offer

8 November 2007 – Masthead Portfolios advises that it has been informed by the Abano Chairman, Alison Paterson, that its revised offer of $5.00 per share was inadequate and that it would be rejected by the Board.

In response to this decision Masthead’s Mark Stewart commented: “We are disappointed that our revised offer has been quickly rejected by the Abano Board. While the reaction is not altogether a surprise given previous comment by the Board, I stress that our offer is real and it represents a healthy $1.15 per share increase over our previous offer and a 47% premium to the pre offer price.

“Despite the comments by the Board we will press on and let the shareholders assess the merits of our offer. We also look forward to tomorrow’s annual meeting for a ‘full update’ on the due diligence process as was promised by the Board. Given the speedy rejection of our offer we can only assume that the Abano Board has another superior offer. We look forward to full disclosure on this matter at the AGM.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media