E-cademy deal cleared

By PETER GRIFFIN

Australian company MatrixIP's move to buy into online education company E-cademy has been approved by the Takeovers Panel.

MatrixIP last month bought 200 million shares in E-cademy for $400,000, a deal that gave the company 57.4 per cent of E-cademy's voting shares.

But shareholder approval of the deal, rushed through at a meeting on July 4, caused an outcry from small shareholders angry that E-cademy's shareholders were not given more time to consider a rival deal from Wellington investment company Cube Capital.

The panel last week slapped a restraining order on MatrixIP selling any of its recently acquired shares in E-cademy while it considered whether the transaction met regulatory guidelines.

"The panel determined that it was satisfied with the transaction," a statement from the Takeovers Panel's chairman John King read.

It also ruled that the new Takeovers Code, introduced on June 1, had not applied to the deal.

The panel's decision will come as a major disappointment for Cube which had drawn up a deal offering more cash, a smaller number of shares to change hands and business opportunities worth up to $200,000. Cube's managing director Simon Wallace was last night unavailable for comment.


A report on the Takeover Panel's decision