Menu
Finance

Investors Turn Up Heat Over Billabong's No-Sale

The Australian Shareholders Association has "refused to bow to pressure" from Billabong and Founder & Dir Gordon Merchant over plans "to oust him from the board" over his role in the company's rejection of an A$842M ($861M) takeover offer, according to Blair Speedy of THE AUSTRALIAN. The ASA said last week that it would "vote against the re-election" of Merchant at the company's annual general meeting on Oct. 24, citing his rejection of a A$3.30 a share takeover offer from private equity group TPG in February. Merchant's lawyers and fellow Dir Colette Paull, who supported his decision to reject the February bid, wrote to the ASA "demanding they retract claims" that Merchant had effectively prevented the board from accepting an offer of A$3.30, noting the offer was "indicative, non-binding, incomplete and conditional." This was followed Monday by a letter from Billabong's lawyers, who are also "demanding changes to the wording of the ASA's shareholder advice" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 10/16).

CAUSE FOR CONCERN: In N.Y., Gillian Tan noted on the WALL STREET JOURNAL's Deal Journal Australia blog that Citi analyst Craig Woolford has "offered a couple of answers" for why TPG or Billabong are not disclosing what led to the lack of a takeover. Woolford said, "The fact TPG spent six weeks looking at the business and felt proceeding with a takeover was not worthwhile is a concern." The broker believes TPG was unable to gain comfort over the visibility for future earnings due to the "underlying health of the Billabong brand or the sales decline in Europe" (WSJ, 10/15).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2012/10/16/Finance/Billabong.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2012/10/16/Finance/Billabong.aspx

CLOSE