ELDERS HAPPY TO LEAVE CARLING SHARES OUTSTANDING
Elders IXL Ltd <ELXA.S> says it is happy
to leave preferences shares of brewer Carling O'Keefe Ltd
outstanding after an undisclosed bidder made an offer to
acquire all of Carling's outstanding preferred stock.
    Elders, which owns 100 pct of Carling's outstanding common
shares, previously proposed to redeem the 433,745 Carling
series A preferred shares at 33.50 Canadian dlrs each and
redeem the 386,662 series B preferreds at 40 dlrs a share.
    The series A and B preferred shares carry no vote while
dividends are paid.
   
    Elders says neither it nor Carling knows the identity of
the bidder for Carling's preferred shares.
    On May 29, the bidder offered to acquire the Carling
preferred for 36 dlrs for each series A and 40.50 dlrs for each
series B share.
    Elders said leaving the Carling preferred shares
outstanding will not affect ongoing plans of the company.
    Series B preferred shareholders had previously rejected
Carling's proposal to redeem the shares and a series A
preferred shareholders meeting was adjourned to June 12.
 Reuter
