Australian yeast and ingredients group Burns Philp & Co. said last weekthat it has started mailing out its bidder's statement to shareholdersof Australasia's largest food group Goodman Fielder about its A$2billion-plus takeover bid, according to a Dow Jones report.
The move comes a day after Australia's Takeovers Panel said it wasconsidering issues raised by Goodman Fielder but would not block thedispatch of the formal bidder's statement.
Goodman Fielder lodged an application with the panel on 30 Dec, 2002,hoping to have certain conditions on the bid removed, continues the DowJones report.
The application followed receipt of an "unsatisfactory" response fromBurns Philp to a request by Goodman Fielder to clarify certainconditions mentioned in its bidder's statement.
Goodman Fielder has 14 to 28 days to respond to Burn Philp's biddersstatement, said a Burns Philp spokesman. Goodman Fielder is seeking adeclaration of unacceptable circumstances from the panel in relation toconditions linked to the availability of finance for the Burns Philpbid, accounting statements and forecasts made by GoodmanFielder.
Burns Philp bought 14.9 per cent of Goodman Fielder andannounced its hostile takeover bid in mid-December. The bid is priced atA$1.85 a share, some 36 cents above Goodman Fielder's last traded priceahead of the takeover announcement.