Takeover, page-2

I see many objections to granting of those options. The only alternative would be to have an up-front fee paid by EGO to MIN. Would everyone object to that as well?

Reality is, with nearly every financing facility there is a margin (over BBSW) and a facility fee (and sometimes an additional arrangers fee, in the case of a syndicated loan). Typically this is in the region of around 1.5 to 2%, adding around 50 basis points to the cost of the loan. So in reality, the granting of options (which were out of the money at the time of the heads of agreement) are in lieu of those fees.

As for "stealing" the company - there is sufficient distribution of share holdings to ensure that any takeover would require a diversity of shareholder approval.

I personally think that the options in lieu of fees are ok, and that the MIN deal is the best one we have. If MIN want to then use this as a springboard to full ownership, then have a crack I say (look at what happened last time MIN took over a company - shareholders of the target company were the big winners, and with Hartley's lifting their estimate I would think a value north of $1.00 will be required).