Out of the options Viterra offered to shareholders in Australian grain handler ABB, most appear to have chosen Viterra scrip over cash, the company said Monday.
Viterra, which formalized its cash-and-stock offer for ABB in May this year and finalized the ABB deal on Sept. 11, offered the Adelaide-based company’s stockholders a choice of
- A$4.35 cash and 0.45 Viterra shares plus an A41-cent dividend;
- A$9.11 per share, cash; or
- a “maximum scrip” option of 0.91 Viterra shares plus the 41-cent dividend per share.
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The company had to apply a scale to the number of Viterra shares it could supply, as ABB shareholder elections “exceeded the amount of available scrip consideration,” Regina-based Viterra said.
Thus, Viterra said Monday, it will supply:
- A$751.7 million, cash;
- 9.6 million new shares of Viterra;
- 68.6 million new shares in Viterra in trust for ABB shareholders who opted to take CHESS depository interests (CDIs) in Viterra; and
- 32,368 new Viterra shares to be sold under the cash-out facility on or before Oct. 15.
(CDIs are an Australian Securities Exchange mechanism that allows Australian residents to hold and transfer foreign financial products without having to hold legal title to them.)
National Bank Financial market analyst David Newman told the Reuters news service on Monday that most ABB shareholder opted for Viterra shares over cash because Viterra stock was trading above the cash offer’s value.
ABB shareholders will now make up 21.1 per cent of Viterra’s shareholder base, Newman told Reuters reporter Rod Nickel.
