ASIC has today reissued its regulatory guide on takeover bids to incorporate updated guidance on the minimum bid price rule in s621(3) of the Corporations Act.
The rewrite of our previous guidance on the rule is designed to make it clearer and easier to use. There are no significant changes to the underlying policy.
Regulatory Guide 9 Takeover bids (RG 9) contains the bulk of our policies on takeover bids. The incorporation of our policy on the minimum bid price rule into RG 9 further consolidates our policies on takeovers to make our guidance more accessible.
John Price, ASIC
Commissioner John Price said:
The minimum bid price rule plays a key role in takeovers regulation by ensuring that shareholders have a reasonable and equal opportunity to participate in benefits arising from a takeover bid. Ensuring our guidance is clearer and more accessible is one way in which we can communicate the importance of this rule to the market.
RG 9 also includes updated references to the new legislative instruments on takeovers which were released in December 2015 and other minor updates.