The board of S. Kidman & Co., Australia’s largest private landholder, has agreed to a bid of $365 million for the business from Australian mining tycoon Gina Rinehart and a Chinese co-investor but is open to higher offers that are likely to be made,
the
Australian Financial Review
reported.
The more than 50 shareholders — descendants of Sir Sidney Kidman — and other stakeholders are under a gag order, the article said. A third of the family is based outside Australia, the report noted.
Several family members “vehemently opposed the original plan to sell the company,” the article said.
Because there are more than 50 shareholders, Kidman is classified in Australia as a public company, subject to corporate reporting and governance similar to a listed company, the
AFR
article said.
Ernst & Young has been vetting bidders for the business and screened out previous suitors, the article said. Australian authorities vetoed an earlier bid from a Chinese consortium.
An unnamed board member told
AFR
the sale process has been “a traumatic experience for some of our shareholders. They thought they had a sale but then they didn’t.”
Kidman’s managing director, Greg Campbell, told
AFR
that a sale of the business “will finally enable current shareholders to recycle capital back into their own business and agribusiness ventures.” (Source:
Australian Financial Review
, Oct. 14, 2016.)
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