EQUITICORP TASMAN TO BID FOR MONIER LTD
<Equiticorp Tasman Ltd> (ETL) said it will
offer 4.15 dlrs a share cash for all the issued capital of
Monier Ltd <MNRA.S>, currently the subject of a 3.80 dlrs a
share bid by CSR Ltd <CSRA.S>.
    Alternatively, ETL will offer three shares plus 82 cents
cash for each Monier share, it said in a statement.
    As previously reported, ETL moved into the market for
Monier shares last week, taking its stake to 13.7 pct by
Friday.
    It now holds 14.99 pct, the maximum allowed without Foreign
Investment Review Board (FIRB) approval. ETL is classified as
foreign because of its New Zealand base.
    The ETL cash offer values Monier's issued capital of 156.28
mln shares at 649 mln dlrs, against 593 mln for the CSR bid.
    Based on the current price of ETL shares of 1.05 dlrs, the
alternative is worth 3.97 dlrs per share, but ETL said the
value placed on its shares for the offer aproximates to the
diluted asset backing of ETL as at March 31.
    ETL said the offer will have no minimum acceptance
conditions and will be subject to Australian foreign investment
and U.S. Hart-Scott-Rodino anti-trust clearances.
    ETL chairman Allan Hawkins said in the statement that the
shareholding in Monier was a long term investment.
    ETL and its <Feltex International Ltd> associate have
targetted the building products sector as an area of expansion
and Monier fits well with this aim, he added.
    Monier chairman Bill Locke said in a separate statement
that the independent directors of Monier intend to recommend
acceptance of the ETL bid in the absence of a higher bid.
    He also said Monier will not now proceed with the
one-for-two bonus issue announced with its interim results on
March 19 in view of the proposed takeover bids.
    As previously reported, the CSR offer involves a complex
put and call option deal with Monier's major shareholder,
Redland Plc <RDLD.L>, which gives Redland the choice of
accepting the CSR offer for its 49.8 pct stake or moving to
50.1 pct within six months of the bid closing.
    CSR officials have made it clear that they see Redland
taking the second option, resulting in the two companies
running Monier as a joint venture.
    CSR officials have also said they had no intention of
raising the company's bid for Monier after ETL's intervention
became public last week.
 REUTER
