The 84c (old) bid price is now irrelevant. That bid expired on...

The 84c (old) bid price is now irrelevant. That bid expired on 7 June. Under the takeover law, RG can’t buy any more PGH shares for at least 4 months after 7 June (although ASIC’s view is six months). If RG wants to”compulsorily acquire” PGH shares it must be done under S661 or S664 of the Corporations Act. S661 is under a takeover bid- i.e. that could occur only if RG mounts a second takeover bid. The price offered could be anything: it would not be linked to the 84c of the first bid. But to be able to use CA power he would need to achieve two hurdles, as I have posted before. He must FIRST get over 90% but he must also get at least 75% of the 12% that he currently doesn’t own i.e. must increase to 88% + 9% = 97%. Thus if he uses s661 CA provisions he must offer a price that is high enough to attract holders of all but the last 3%. Given the history, it’s clear that 84c would be far too low for most (perhaps any) minority holders to sell to him.

The other CA power is in s664. This is not under a takeover. To use this would be very difficult for RG for several reasons. It could be blocked by holders of only 1.2% (or more) who objected to it, unless the Court overruled them. Also RG would be obliged to obtain an independent expert report that proved that his offer price was “fair value”. On the first point, I expect that the Manipur/TIC holders alone- who have 6.5%- would object to anything below a very high offer, even if no one else objected. On the second point, given the history, it’s very unlikely that an expert would say that fair value was as low as 84c. For what it’s worth, I believe that an expert would say (following the 2024 annual results) that fair value is over $1.20. I have 200,000 shares and I would be very reluctant to sell below $1.20, even if it takes two more years.

In summary if compulsory acquisition eventuates it is only likely to take place at much higher than 84c. That price is no longer relevant.

DYOR Not advice.