Pacific Consortium offers Tatts investors incentive to favour takeover bid

fic Consortium has agreed to allow Tatts to continue to pay dividends to its corporate shareholders, even if the proposed AUS$7.3bn takeover deal doesn't conclude until 2018.

Following their recent all-cash offer for Tatts Group, Pacific hope that this inducement will sway shareholders to look favourably on their bid rather than proceeding with Tabcorp Holdings’ offer of AUS$11bn.

It believes that this deal will offer flexibility, options and most importantly greater investor value to Tatts’ shareholders.

Tabcorp Holdings’ bid is currently the subject of a review by the Australian Competition Tribunal with a deadline for approval/rejection of June 2017.

Pacific Consortium state that their bid would not require federal review, with corporate investors gaining from the sale of any individual parts of Tatts Group not included in their long-term plans for the business.

The consortium has stated that their priority is to split off Tatts’ lottery businesses from the main group, turning it into a separate entity.

Sources have reported that Tabcorp governance is attempting to stop the bid in its tracks by influencing Tatts shareholders to vote against the Pacific bid. Industry analysts have claimed that if this attempt to derail the Pacific takeover fails, Tabcorp will look to increase its present 9% shareholding in Tatts as a blocking tactic.