Elders has gone into a trading halt on the stock exchange as it considers final bids for its key assets.
The Adelaide-based agribusiness said today it had received one or more final or near final bids for each of its Elders Rural Services and Futuris Automotive businesses.
“As those bids require analysis, consultation with secured lenders and consideration by the Elders Board and potentially further negotiations on key terms, Elders is not in a position to make an immediate announcement in connection with those bids,” the company said in a letter to the exchange.
Elders requested that the trading halt continues until this Tuesday or the making of an announcement in connection with the bids, if earlier.
Shares last traded at 9 cents.
The trading halt follows heightened expectations that Tasmanian agribusiness Ruralco was close to sealing its proposed acquisition of Elders Rural Services Limited.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission cleared any hurdles to the deal on May 3o when it announced it had assessed the impact of reduced competition in the sector.
Ruralco and Elders each operate a national network of agri-product retail outlets, supplying a range of agri-products including fertiliser, agricultural chemicals, animal health products and farm merchandise.
“The ACCC considered that in most towns with both a Ruralco and Elders retail store, the combined rural services retail networks of the merger parties would be constrained by alternative retail suppliers of agri-products located nearby,” ACCC chairman Rod Sims said in a statement.
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“In the small number of towns where the merger parties face limited competition from alternative agri-product retailers, the ACCC considered that existing or potential new retail suppliers of agri-products could readily enter or expand into these markets.”
The ACCC said it considered alternative retail suppliers of agri-products, including Landmark, independent CRT and Town & Country retailers, and strong independent wholesale banner groups such as AgLink and AIRR.
Last week Elders boss Malcolm Jackman told ABC regional radio Elders won’t disappear should the RuralCo deal go ahead.
“Lots of business do that all the time, in terms of ownership and come back and go forward etc.
“I see that the core of the business continuing on the way through and you only need to look at the history of rural services businesses in agriculture in Australia. They come and go but under different guises and ownerships.”
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