Auspine Rejects Takeover Bid

17 July 2007
South Australian forest grower Auspine has formally rejected Tasmanian company Gunns' $332.8 million takeover offer and encouraged shareholders to take no action.
Chairman Paul Teissiere said the company was "now in play" and likely to be bought by Gunns or another bidder.
Auspine shares continued to trade above Gunns' $6.15-a-share offer, closing 2c higher at $6.59 on 13 July and valuing Auspine at above $355 million by the market.
Gunns made a bid for Auspine on 15 May, a result of it winning a public tender to buy a 25% stake in the company. The offer was for $6.15 a share, 1.83 Gunns shares for each Auspine share or a combination of both.
Two other suitors, one believed to be Elders and ITC parent Futuris Corporation and the other a private-equity firm, this week began looking at Auspine's books to do "due diligence" for possible rival bids.
Tiessiere said there were strong reasons to reject the Gunns bid, including a rejection by 29% Auspine shareholder and managing director Adrian de Bruin; indpendent valuer Lonergan Edwards' judgment that the offer was unfair; and adverse tax implications for Auspine shareholders.

Support Grows For Pulp Mill

A key Tasmanian businessman has added his voice to the growing number of businesses and forest industry groups supporting the $1.7 billion Gunns pulp mill in the Tamar Valley.
Andrew Kemp, chairman of K&D and Ruralco and a former head of the Trust Bank, has supported a new pro-development movement. His move coincides with concerns about the mill's impact on tourism raised in the Legislative Council by independent Upper House member for Rosevears Kerry Finch.
Along with the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kemp joins the Forest Industries Association of Tasmania, the Tasmanian Forest Contractors Association, Timber Communities Australia and the CFMEU.
The new movement has called for an end to the "constant anti-development tactics of the Greens and extremist environmental groups that are damaging Tasmania's economy and future".
It says the anti-development agenda is damaging Tasmania's forestry and business reputations.
Kemp says it is vital to denounce anti-green activists and for the wider community to get behind the pulp mill if future "economic misery" is to be avoided.
The pulp mill is the largest single investment project proposed in Tasmania and is forecast to boost the state's economy by 2.5%.

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