Australia's take over laws are lacking in comparison to the UK.
The Howlong bid would be illegal in the UK.
"Cash confirmation The Takeover Code requires a cash bidder to obtain a ”cash confirmation” from its financial adviser, confirming before a firm offer announcement can be made that the bidder has the full funding for the bid. This will require the bidder’s financial adviser to instruct its own lawyers to guide it as to the requirements for satisfying this obligation. Because the Takeover Code specifies that the financial adviser will itself have to provide the money to complete the bid if the bidder fails to do so and the financial adviser failed to act responsibly, this is an onerous and important requirement for financial advisers. In practice, this means that fully documented and committed finance must be in place before the takeover is announced — a requirement which frequently surprises foreign bidders."
See information re Takeovers of UK listed companies by Chinese bidders pdf file; Here; http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=uk%20takeovers%20finacance%20approval%20requirements&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&sqi=2&ved=0CFIQFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ashurst.com%2Fdoc.aspx%3Fid_Content%3D6387&ei=IVIPUdz9KajDmQX35IHACw&usg=AFQjCNFzJVIrgszMQ8mtAtxOzGRQZClxGQ
Kind regards,
Tongal
SDL Price at posting:
34.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
