AMCL Holdings Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary and affiliate of ANSA McAL Limited, has extended the acceptance date on its takeover offer of Barbados Shipping & Trading Company.
The BS&T shareholders now have an additional two weeks, until September 21, to take up the repriced B$8 per share invitation.
The offer - now valued at the top end at US$301 million, up from US$263 million - was originally scheduled to close September 5.
Queries on the amendments, said the company, should be directed to AMCL president, David Inglefield, at the company's offices in Wildey, St. Michael, or Maureen Chung of Royal Bank of Canada's Investment & Trust Services Department in Bridgetown, Barbados, the dealer/manager for AMCL.
AMCL, which was incorporated in Barbados as the vehicle for the takeover, is hunting controlling interest in BS&T, whose 75.3 million of issued shares are held by some 3,000 shareholders.
ANSA said it would not go through with the deal if it fails to garner at least 50.1 per cent of the shares.
ANSA McAL's hostile bid in July for the Barbados conglo-merate has killed a merger deal that was in the works between BS&T and Neal and Massey.
Hostile bid
Neal and Massey, which has a minority 23 per cent in B&T, has said it will not sell to its Trinidadian bid rival.
ANSA McAL had originally launched its hostile bid at B$7 (US$3.50) per share, but subsequently amended the offer to B$8 (US$4).
Shareholders who had accepted the offer at the original price would, at the close of the offer, be paid the higher amended price, the company said, subsequent to its 'notice of variation' on the offer.
Said the circular: "In the event that the consideration being offered for the shares under the offer is increased, that increased consideration will be paid to all depositing shareholders whose shares are taken up under the offer, and whether or not such shares were taken up before the increase."
As such, there was no need, said AMCL, to withdraw and redeposit shares in order to secure the B$8 price.
lavern.clarke@gleanerjm.com
