Gunns Ltd has told Auspine Ltd shareholders to “not lose sight of the outstanding attractiveness” of its takeover offer, which was officially rejected last week.
Auspine claimed that a A$332m offer for 100% of its shares from Gunns undervalued the company and was unfair, citing an independent report’s findngs as reason enough to tell shareholders not to take up the offer.
However, Gunns has hit back, saying that the offer is fair and reasonable, not conditional on buying 100% of Auspine and is the only offer currently on the table.
“Gunns has made its offer and stands by it as an extremely attractive offer at a significant premium and the only real offer available to you to accept,” said John Gay, executive chairman of Gunns.
Mr Gay added that the 26% of Auspine already owned by Gunns would be a deterrent to other potential bidders, of which there are rumoured to be two, as it is a “strategic interest not for sale”.
