Forum Archive Index - May 2000

["Mark Hubbard" <mhubbard@es.co.nz>]

Just to follow up, the below is what Bloomberg have to say:



N.Z.'s St. Lukes Says It's in Talks With Westfield (Update1)
By David Hargreaves


Auckland, May 31 (Bloomberg) -- St. Lukes Group Ltd., New Zealand's largest
shopping mall investor, advised shareholders not to sell their stock because
it is in ``commercial discussions'' with main shareholder Westfield Trust.

Sydney-based Westfield, part of Westfield Holdings Ltd., the world's
fourth-largest shopping mall manager, and owner of 47 percent of St. Lukes,
requested a halt to trading of its units on the Australian Stock Exchange as
it expected to make ``two important announcements'' today regarding a major
acquisition. The trading halt was expected to last all day.

``It seems most likely,'' there will be a takeover offer made by Westfield
for St. Lukes, said Ian Arkle, who helps manage NZ$700 million ($321
million) in New Zealand stocks at New Zealand Guardian Trust Ltd., and holds
St. Lukes shares. He said any takeover offer should be at ``higher than
NZ$1.50 a share and less than NZ$2 -- it depends how keen the buyer is.''

A further announcement will be issued by St. Lukes, owner of 11 New Zealand
shopping malls, as soon as discussions with Westfield have reached a
conclusion, which ``is anticipated to occur during the course of today,''
the company said in a statement to the New Zealand Stock Exchange.

Westfield Holdings has recently been on the acquisition trail, two weeks ago
taking a 50 percent stake in MEPC Plc, the U.K.'s No. 4 property company,
which has shopping centers worth 900 million pounds ($1.5 billion).

Guardian Trust's Arkle said it was likely any takeover offer would contain a
combination of cash and shares, adding he would be keen to take up Westfield
shares as ``it is a good stock''.

St. Lukes was untraded on the market, though a parcel of stock changed hands
at NZ$1.45 off-market, up 9 percent on yesterday's close and the highest for
nearly two months. Westfield Trust units closed Tuesday down 1 cent, or 0.3
percent, at A$3.13.



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.sharechat.co.nz/          New Zealand's home for market investors
To remove yourself from this list, please use the form at
http://www.sharechat.co.nz/forum.shtml.