(Reuters) – Australia’s Link Administration said on Monday it will not recommend Canadian cloud-based software firm Dye & Durham Ltd’s lowered takeover bid but agreed to continue to engage with it on hopes of securing a better offer.
Last week, Dye & Durham (D&D) cut its offer by nearly a quarter to A$2.21 billion ($1.51 billion), citing a drop in market valuation, only days after Australia’s competition regulator raised concerns that D&D’s acquisition of Link’s near 43% stake in PEXA Group would hurt rivals’ ability to compete.
The share registry firm said it would consider the reduced offer if D&D could satisfy the regulator the acquisition would not impact competition.
“Link Group will postpone the scheme meeting … to a date to be determined” to allow D&D to present an undertaking to the competition regulator, it said. (https://bit.ly/3OWJ5LG)
The Sydney-based share registry firm is also looking at alternative plans in case the deal falls through, with options including an “in-specie distribution of a minimum of 80% of Link’s shareholding in PEXA,” it added.
Over the past two years, Link has received multiple buyout offers, at the heart of which is its prized stake in the electronic conveyancing firm PEXA, which listed in Australia in July last year amid a red-hot housing market.
($1 = 1.4665 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sam Holmes)
