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LAB - Labat Africa Limited - Firm Intention and withdrawal of the cautionary

Release Date: 07/04/2010 09:06
Code(s): LAB
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LAB - Labat Africa Limited - Firm Intention and withdrawal of the cautionary LABAT AFRICA LIMITED Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa (Registration number 1986/001616/06) JSE code: LAB ISIN: ZAE000018354 ("Labat" or the "company") FIRM INTENTION BY AURORA EMPOWERMENT SYSTEMS (PTY) LIMITED TO MAKE A MANDATORY OFFER TO LABAT SHAREHOLDERS, THE RELATED PARTY DISPOSAL OF THE ASSETS, LIABILITIES AND BUSINESS OF LABAT IN TERMS OF SECTION 228 OF THE COMPANIES ACT AND WITHDRAWAL OF THE CAUTIONARY 1. INTRODUCTION Shareholders were advised, in an announcement dated 4 February 2010, that Aurora Empowerment Systems (Pty) Limited ("Aurora"), Link Private Equity and Investments (Pty) Limited ("Link") and Labat had entered into an agreement ("the agreement") in terms of which, and subject to the fulfilment of certain suspensive conditions: 1.1 Link agreed to sell the 90 106 335 Labat shares it owns (equal to approximately 45.7% of the issued share capital of Labat) to Aurora for a cash consideration of 5 cents per share ("the sale of the Link shares"). 1.2 Link furthermore agreed to procure irrevocable undertakings from shareholders holding at least 21.3% of the issued share capital of Labat to accept the mandatory offer by Aurora as described in paragraph 2 ("the additional acceptances"). 1.3 Link will acquire: - the business conducted by Labat as a holding company on 1 March 2010 ("the effective date") ("the business"); - all the assets of Labat including the cash on hand and in the bank account/s of the company on the third business day after the last suspensive condition is fulfilled or waived, as the case may be ("closing date"); - all the issued shares in all subsidiaries of Labat ("sale subsidiaries"); - all claims of whatsoever nature that Labat may have against the sale subsidiaries as at the effective date and the closing date; and - all liabilities of Labat as at the closing date in respect of the business (including the liabilities of Labat to each of the sale subsidiaries as at the closing date), apart from the shareholder loan account to a maximum of R4 million ("the excluded liabilities"), collectively referred to as ("the disposal"). The sale of the Link shares, the additional acceptances, and the disposal are indivisibly linked transactions and are collectively referred to as "the transactions". 1.4 Aurora will loan Labat R4 million on the closing date, which will be used to settle the excluded liabilities ("the Aurora loan"). 2. MANDATORY OFFER The sale of the Link shares constitutes an "affected transaction" as defined in the Securities Regulation Code on Take-overs and Mergers ("SRP Code") and, accordingly, Aurora is obliged to make an offer to the shareholders of Labat other than Link (the "offeree shareholders") in accordance with the provisions of the SRP Code. Aurora has advised the Labat board of a firm intention to make a mandatory offer to the offeree shareholders to acquire all their Labat shares for a cash consideration of 5 cents per share ("the mandatory offer"). Aurora does not hold any existing securities in Labat. 3. CONFIRMATION OF FINANCIAL RESOURCES The attorneys to Aurora, Amod`s Attorneys, have provided the Securities Regulation Panel with confirmation of availability of cash resources to satisfy the full cash consideration payable in terms of the mandatory offer. 4. REINVESTMENT OPTION - SUBSCRIPTION FOR SOUTH AFRICAN MICRO ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS (PTY) LIMITED ("SAMES")SHARES Following the implementation of the transactions, Labat shareholders who accept the mandatory offer will be given the opportunity to subscribe for shares in SAMES on terms and conditions comparable to the price at which Link has offered for SAMES. SAMES is a wholly owned subsidiary of Labat and will be sold to Link in terms of the disposal as described in paragraph 1.3. SAMES will take all necessary actions to enable it to offer its shares to members of the public, including, but not limited to, the removal of restrictions related to private companies from its articles of association. 5. SUSPENSIVE CONDITIONS The following suspensive conditions remain unfulfilled:
- approval of the transactions by the JSE Limited, Securities Regulation Panel and all other regulatory approvals; and - approval of the disposal as a disposal in terms of section 228 of the Companies Act at a general meeting of Labat shareholders. 6. FINANCIAL EFFECTS OF THE DISPOSAL The unaudited pro forma financial effects of the disposal, for which the directors are responsible, are provided for illustrative purposes only to show the effect of the disposal on the basic and headline loss per share as if the disposal had taken effect on 1 March 2009 and on net asset value and net tangible asset value per share as if the disposal had taken effect on 31 August 2009. Because of their nature, the unaudited pro forma financial effects may not give a fair presentation of the group`s financial position and performance. The unaudited pro forma financial effects have been compiled from the unaudited interim results for the six months ended 31 August 2009 and are presented in a manner consistent with the format and accounting policies adopted by the company and have been adjusted as described in the notes below: Unaudited Pro forma % Before Unaudited Change the After the
Note disposal disposal Basic (loss) / 2 (6.2) 7.0 213 earnings per share (cents) Headline loss 2 (6.2) (2.2) 65 per share (cents) Net asset value 3 5.3 1.3 (75) per share (cents) Net tangible 3 5.3 1.3 (75) asset value per share (cents) Number of 197 155 197 155 - shares in issue throughout the period (`000) Notes: 1. The "Before the disposal" column has been extracted from the unaudited interim results for the six months ended 31 August 2009. 2. The effects on the basic, and headline loss per share are calculated based on the assumption that the disposal was effected on 1 March 2009 after taking into account the following:
- The exclusion of the income and expenses of SAMES and Sames Properties (Pty) Limited ("SAMPROP") as extracted from the unaudited interim results for the six months ended 31 August 2009.
- The deconsolidation of reserves at 28 February 2009 of SAMES, SAMPROP and Labat Management Consulting (Pty) Limited ("Labat MC") as extracted from the audited financial statements for the year ended 28 February 2009.
- The exclusion of the assets and liabilities disposed of as at 28 February 2009 of Labat as extracted from the audited financial statements of Labat for the year ended 28 February 2009. - The application of the R4 million loan received from Aurora to the immediate reduction of the liabilities of Labat. - The inclusion of the proceeds of R6 605 012 pursuant to the disposal. Interest on the proceeds has not been taken into account.
- The inclusion of the transaction costs of R1.3 million. 3. The effects on net asset value and net tangible asset value per share are calculated based on the assumption that the disposal was effected on 31 August 2009 after taking into account the following: - The exclusion of the assets and liabilities of SAMES, SAMPROP and Labat MC as extracted from the unaudited interim results for the six months ended 31 August 2009.
- The exclusion of the assets and liabilities of Labat that are disposed of as extracted from the unaudited interim results for the six months ended 31 August 2009. - The deconsolidation of reserves of SAMES, SAMPROP and Labat MC at 31 August 2009 as extracted from the unaudited interim results for the six months ended 31 August 2009. - The application of the R4 million loan received from Aurora to the immediate reduction of the liabilities of Labat.
- The inclusion of the proceeds of R6 605 012 from the disposal. - The inclusion of the transaction costs of R1.3 million. 7. DOCUMENTATION The disposal constitutes a related party transaction in terms of the JSE Listings Requirements as Messrs BG van Rooyen, DJ O`Neill and VJ Labat are directors of Labat and also shareholders of Link. The disposal is also an affected transaction in terms of the SRP Code and will require 75% of disinterested shareholders to vote in favour of the disposal. A circular, containing details of the sale of the Link shares, the additional acceptances, the disposal, the mandatory offer and incorporating a notice of a general meeting of shareholders will be posted to Labat shareholders in due course. 8. OPINIONS The Labat board has appointed PKF Corporate Finance (Pty) Limited as independent adviser to assist it in considering the terms of the mandatory offer and the disposal and to provide it with the external advice required in terms of the SRP Code and the JSE Listings Requirements. 9. WITHDRAWAL OF THE CAUTIONARY Having regard to the information provided above, the cautionary is hereby withdrawn. Sandton 7 April 2010 Corporate adviser and sponsor to Labat Vunani Corporate Finance Legal adviser to Labat Eversheds Independent expert PKF Corporate Finance (Pty) Limited Corporate adviser to Aurora Arcay Moela Sponsors (Pty) Ltd Date: 07/04/2010 09:06:02 Supplied by www.sharenet.co.za Produced by the JSE SENS Department. The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the JSE Limited (`JSE`). The JSE does not, whether expressly, tacitly or implicitly, represent, warrant or in any way guarantee the truth, accuracy or completeness of the information published on SENS. The JSE, their officers, employees and agents accept no liability for (or in respect of) any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential loss or damage of any kind or nature, howsoever arising, from the use of SENS or the use of, or reliance on, information disseminated through SENS.

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