Back story on MTF takeover bid

The board of Motor Trade Finance (MTF) rejected a takeover proposal from Heartland New Zealand (HNZ) earlier this year. The majority of shareholdersonly found out about it on June 23 when MTF informed them after discovering HNZ had engaged with some of its shareholders about the offer – as exclusively revealed by Autofile Online. The finance company received advice not to inform its shareholders at that stage, says chairman Stephen Higgs. He adds a group of “eight or nine shareholders” out of about 500 have now requested a special meeting. Higgs says HNZ is the only party that has been in acquisition talks and has submitted a draft proposal to MTF. “If we received a proposal that provided addedvalue to our shareholders, we would be pass it onto shareholders,” Higgs told NBR. “Until we have such an offer on the table, it would be inappropriate to speculate.” MTF will still “consider a less conditional offer” that meets its price expectations.