PRIME Television has taken control of Becker Group, effectively squashing any takeover aspirations actor Mel Gibson may have had for the television producer and cinema enterprise.
Regional broadcaster Prime now owns around 70 per cent of Becker after directors Russell and Richard Becker yesterday sold their 42.6 per cent stake in the company to Prime for 47 cents a share, representing a market value of about $12.9 million.
But the father and son will have to go without Becker’s cinema assets, which were originally supposed to be sold to them for $15.5 million as part of the Prime deal.
Becker scrapped those plans after Mr Gibson’s part-owned firm Dolphete Ltd convinced the Takeovers Panel to intervene.
Dolphete recently bought a 12 per cent stake of Becker’s shares and it was widely speculated to be behind an offer for Becker of “no less than 46 cents per share” disclosed last week by the Becker board.
Dolphete wrote to the Takeovers Panel last month, accusing Prime and Becker of acting in concert and not giving Becker shareholders enough information about the cinema asset sale.
Prime and Becker have similar interests, with hospital magnate Paul Ramsay holding 41 per cent of Prime and 19 per cent of Becker.
Mr Ramsay promised to sell his Becker shares to Prime if Becker Group shareholders approved the sale of the cinema assets to the Becker family.
In its ruling, the Takeovers Panel said the planned cinema business transaction “was a benefit to Richard and Russell Becker, in which no other shareholders of Becker Group would have an opportunity to participate”.
It also said the transaction could affect the success of rival bids for the whole Becker Group, and wanted to know why Becker’s directors flagged $15.5 million as a fair sale price for the cinema business, when the asset was valued at about $30.8 million in the half-year accounts.
The panel told Becker it needed to provide shareholders with more information about the cinema business sale, and barred Prime from voting on the transaction.
The vote was supposed to be held at a general meeting next Friday but Becker announced yesterday the meeting had been cancelled.
Prime last week upped its bid for the whole of Becker to 47 cents per share, or about $30.4 million, after anticipating a rival bid from Dolphete.
Regional broadcaster Prime now owns around 70 per cent of Becker after directors Russell and Richard Becker yesterday sold their 42.6 per cent stake in the company to Prime for 47 cents a share, representing a market value of about $12.9 million.
But the father and son will have to go without Becker’s cinema assets, which were originally supposed to be sold to them for $15.5 million as part of the Prime deal.
Becker scrapped those plans after Mr Gibson’s part-owned firm Dolphete Ltd convinced the Takeovers Panel to intervene.
Dolphete recently bought a 12 per cent stake of Becker’s shares and it was widely speculated to be behind an offer for Becker of “no less than 46 cents per share” disclosed last week by the Becker board.
Dolphete wrote to the Takeovers Panel last month, accusing Prime and Becker of acting in concert and not giving Becker shareholders enough information about the cinema asset sale.
Prime and Becker have similar interests, with hospital magnate Paul Ramsay holding 41 per cent of Prime and 19 per cent of Becker.
Mr Ramsay promised to sell his Becker shares to Prime if Becker Group shareholders approved the sale of the cinema assets to the Becker family.
In its ruling, the Takeovers Panel said the planned cinema business transaction “was a benefit to Richard and Russell Becker, in which no other shareholders of Becker Group would have an opportunity to participate”.
It also said the transaction could affect the success of rival bids for the whole Becker Group, and wanted to know why Becker’s directors flagged $15.5 million as a fair sale price for the cinema business, when the asset was valued at about $30.8 million in the half-year accounts.
The panel told Becker it needed to provide shareholders with more information about the cinema business sale, and barred Prime from voting on the transaction.
The vote was supposed to be held at a general meeting next Friday but Becker announced yesterday the meeting had been cancelled.
Prime last week upped its bid for the whole of Becker to 47 cents per share, or about $30.4 million, after anticipating a rival bid from Dolphete.
