KEY POINTS:
Auckland International Airport is to pay a commission to brokers whose clients vote not to approve a partial takeover offer from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).
The move is believed to be a first for this country, a Wellington newspaper reported today.
The terms of the "broker handling fees" are outlined in a letter from the airport's financial adviser, First NZ Capital, to brokers.
Brokers whose clients vote not to approve CPPIB holding 40 per cent of Auckland airport will receive 0.75 per cent of the value of the client's shares if the offer is unsuccessful. The handling fee will be subject to a minimum $50 and a maximum $750 per shareholder.
Auckland airport chairman Tony Frankham said the fee was intended to balance the incentive offered by CPPIB, which is paying brokerage fees for shareholders who accept and approve the offer.
The broker handling fees will probably account for the bulk of the $9 million to $12 million in one-off costs that the airport expects to incur in relation to the CPPIB offer.
For its bid to succeed, CPPIB must get acceptances lifting its shareholding to 40 per cent, along with the approval of a majority of voting shareholders.
Shareholders Association chairman Bruce Sheppard said the payment was "the most immoral takeover defence I have ever witnessed".
- NZPA
