Chanticleer hopes that the chairperson of G8 Education, Jenny Hutson, has learned a few lessons from her failed bid for Affinity Education.
While it is true that G8 will walk away from the takeover with about $17million in profits on two months of share trading, there is little else for Hutson to boast about.
G8 accepted the superior cash offer of 92¢ a share from Anchorage Capital Partners on Monday.
Hutson's bid commenced with a textbook hostile raid on the target which snared 19.9 per cent of the issued capital. That was followed up with a scrip offer that valued the target at 70¢ a share or $161 million.
However, Hutson then outbid herself with a concurrent cash offer of 80¢ a share.
She made the mistake of assuming that she was the only person interested in Affinity despite the market's obvious love affair with the childcare sector.
If she really wanted the company, it was a fatal mistake for Hutson to declare G8's offer final before Affinity had issued its target statement and before checking whether third party interest in the target was genuine.
The final offer declaration meant G8 could not respond to the Anchorage offer.
G8's bid was referred to the Takeovers Panel by Affinity which described as "economically and commercially irrational" the decision by owners of 4.5 per cent of the issued capital to accept G8's scrip offer on August 21, the same day the offer opened.
Affinity claimed the acceptances came from companies which were associates of G8 and this was not disclosed. The panel is yet to rule on that.
Hutson has walked away from the Affinity bid with a reasonable consolation prize but this transaction has done little to enhance her reputation as an astute mover and shaker in M&A. TONY BOYD
A personalised tool to help users track selected stocks. Delivering real-time notifications on price updates, announcements, and performance stats on each to help make informed investment decisions.
(20min delay)