The board and CEO may be soon getting ready to pack their bags...
Quote:
FOREIGN BIDDERS WIN THE DOGFIGHT FOR SKYWEST
Neale Prior - The West Australian 07DEC04
Skywest yesterday surrendered to an eight-month takeover battle with CaptiveVision Capital as two senior directors flagged they would accept the offer after a disappointing sharemarket listing which has left investors carrying big paper losses.
Skywest chairman Pat Ryan and non-executive director Clive Hartz said they intended to accept CVC's 23-a-share offer after other major shareholders, including so-called white knight investor Greenpath Holdings, decided to sell into the bid.
The sales are likely to give CVC at least 48 per cent of Skywest but threaten to strand investors who poured $6.3 million into the company through recent capital raisings as minority shareholders in a foreign-owned airline. This is because the bid only included Skywest shares on issue when the battle began in April.
Skywest shares issued as part of the float at 21 fell yesterday after news of the capitulation to finish 2 lower at 19 - leaving investors in the Patersons Securities-backed listing nearly 20 per cent out of pocket.
Skywest directors decided two months ago to plough on with a rights issue and related pre-float capital raising despite CVC having lifted its takeover bid from 21 a share to 23 - a figure 2 above the float price but 1 below the preferred value put on Skywest in its target statement by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The takeover is likely to see major changes in the management and boardroom of Skywest, with Mr Ryan and managing director Scott Henderson having played key roles in the vigorous defence of what became one of the most bitter corporate stoushes in recent years.
It resulted in Skywest making four successful applications to the Takeovers Panel against the suitor, including those relating to former Skywest chief financial officer Craig Lovelady providing information to his old friend and CVC chief executive Jeff Chatfield.
Even as late as the company's annual meeting last week, Mr Ryan maintained his attacks on the Singapore-based CVC, describing its conduct as "disgraceful in an era when corporate governance had come to the fore" and claimed CVC had flouted the rules.
Mr Ryan stood by his comments yesterday and said he was likely to resign at the appropriate time. "It is not necessarily appropriate for the current board to resign until the bid is over," he said.
"I think you can take that it is unlikely that I will be invited to stay and it is equally unlikely that I would accept if it were offered."
Mr Chatfield said he spoke to Mr Henderson yesterday and told the airline's managing director that he would talk to him tomorrow.
Mr Chatfield said Mr Henderson had told him the incumbent board considered itself in caretaker mode.
"I said I wanted minimal disruption to the business, assets and employees," Mr Chatfield said.
When asked whether the current hierarchy would be removed, Mr Chatfield said: "We talked about there being change to the board."
Mr Chatfield last week voted against Mr Ryan's re-election to the Skywest board, but CVC was overwhelmed after recent acceptances of its bid were not recognised in the voting.
Among those votes not recognised as CVC's were shares sold into the bid that day by Patersons Securities corporate adviser Peter Evans, a seed investor when Skywest was bought out of Ansett in 2002.
Mr Evans declined to comment yesterday.