BlueScope rejects $13.2bn Stokes offer; NSW police warn of carpark scams

BlueScope Steel has rejected a $13.2bn takeover offer from Kerry Stokes and US partners, with the company saying the bid was too low and an attempt to buy the business "on the cheap", the Australian Associated Press reported. The bidders, US-based Steel Dynamics and Stokes-controlled SGH Limited, had offered $30 a share — a 27% premium to the trading price when the offer was made on 12 December — and sought to acquire BlueScope’s North American operations.

Shares in the company rose 20.6% to a 17-year high of $29.48 after the offer was first made public on Monday night. BlueScope’s chair, Jane McAloon, said in a statement to the ASX late yesterday that the board had unanimously rejected the proposal, adding: "Let me be clear – this proposal was an attempt to take BlueScope from its shareholders on the cheap.

It drastically undervalued our world-class assets, our growth momentum, and our future – and the board will not let that happen. This is the fourth time we’ve said no, and the answer remained the same – BlueScope is worth considerably more than what was on the table." Separately, NSW police warned of a spate of alleged thefts and scams targeting elderly drivers in shopping-centre carparks across the state, saying they had been told of 18 recent incidents from Newcastle to Wagga Wagga and across Sydney suburbs.

Key Topics

Business, Bluescope Steel, Kerry Stokes, Steel Dynamics, Sgh Limited, Jane Mcaloon