St Laurence votes against takeover bid

Thursday 8th July 2004

St Laurence Equities says it has acquired a 15% stake in Rural Equities Limited and has voted against the takeover offer made by Sir Selwyn Cushing's company H&G.

St Laurence has gained its stake through a recent stand in the market.

St Laurence Equities says it has voted its shares against the H&G takeover offer because it believes that it will remove the prospect of shareholders being able to secure a higher price for their shares in future.

"Irrespective of the outcome of the shareholders vote on the H&G takeover offer, which sought a 50.1% stake in the REL, St Laurence is comfortable with its shareholding in REL," the company says in a statement.

Because H&G are reliant upon associated parties to secure a 50.1% stake in Rural Equities, the Takeovers Code requires a majority of shareholders (excluding H&G and their associates) to vote in favour of the partial takeover offer.

For this reason, REL shareholders were encouraged by St Laurence Equities to protect the value of their investment and vote against H&G being able to secure control of the company.

A announcement on the result of the postal vote is due tomorrow.

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