Barring some last minute intervention by Solomon Lew, David Jones (DJS), the country’s oldest department store, will become foreign-owned later this morning.
The sale of the company to Woolworths Holdings of South Africa is expected to win strong support at an extraordinary general meeting of David Jones shareholders in Sydney.
Proxies for the meeting closed at 10am on Saturday, so DJS management and advisers plus Woolworths, would know if the 75% level for approving the bid has been reached, and if Mr Lew has voted his shares.
Hopefully there will be a statement to the ASX first thing today, before the meeting.
Mr Lew can wait until today and vote them at the meeting – no proxy voted in favour of the bid would raise the possibility he could try and spoil the deal.
Mr Lew has made no comment on his intentions.
David Jones set to delist
The South African company will pay $4 a share, or around $2.15, and DJs will quietly vanish as a listed company.
Woolworths will then bid 17% to mop up the minorities in Country Road – around 11.8% of the shares, most of which are controlled by Solomon Lew.
If he doesn’t vote his David Jones shares in favour of the Woolworths’ bid, then Woolworths won’t launch its Country Road buyout.
Mr Lew has a 9.9% stake in David Jones – theoretically almost enough to block the takeover in certain scenarios.
But if he doesn’t pledge the stake in favour of the bid, then Mr Lew faces more time being locked into Country Road and having forgone a rich buyout which would net him more than $200 million and big losses on his David Jones shares.
Subject to today’s meeting giving the greenlight, the deal moves to the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney on Thursday for final approval.
Given that ASIC, has already intervened to try and force more disclosure about the ‘benefit‘ Mr Lew will receive from the Country Road mop up bid (and failed), watch for ASIC’s appearance at Thursday’s court hearing. A delay could be possible.
