ING aims for total Calan takeover

ING Property Trust will launch its takeover bid for Calan Healthcare Properties as soon as today, sources familiar with the deal say.

ING will offer $1.25 a unit in a combination of cash and ING units.

It will seek 100 per cent of medical landlord Calan.

Dutch-owned ING last week began buying shares in Calan through a $1.25-a-share stand in the market and had signalled that it was intending to make a bid for the medical landlord.

According to a substantial shareholders notice filed yesterday, ING has 13.7 per cent of the company.

But 10.3 per cent of that holding is in the name of a fund managed by ING Property Trust's manager in New Zealand.

Another source said ING had decided to go ahead with the takeover because it got a "reasonable response" from retail investors in the stand and because it had had "constructive" discussions with the ING board.

Calan chairman Bruce Davidson said last week that ING's interest in the company was "an endorsement of our achievements".

He said Calan would make a full appraisal of any bid once it was made.

The source said the stand in the market would probably continue for a few more days, giving investors the option of selling all of their holdings in Calan for cash rather than wait for the cash-and-scrip takeover bid to take effect.

Calan specialises in developing and buying medical buildings and has properties worth $204 million in New Zealand and Melbourne.