Ann: Off-market buy-back booklet and tender forms, page-2

This buy-back offer stinks. Large companies often structure buy-backs this way, but the ASX should not allow them because they are against ASX rules:= they don't treat all shareholders equally. The buy-back is structured to comprise a small capital component and a large fully-franked dividend. The franking belongs to all shareholders, and it is being given to just those that accept the offer. I know that the counter-argument is that shareholders are given the same offer and are free to make up their minds, but that argument doesn't really cut it. That's because the fact is that the company is bribing people into accepting the offer, using assets (franking credits) belonging to those who don't.

Come to think of it, the ATO shouldn't allow the implied tax benefits, because they are artificial.

So, what to do? Well, you can't change the offer, so you just have to work with it. That doesn't mean it doesn't stink.