Australia's Austal Shares Jump as Hanwha Gets More Time to Bid for US Unit
SYDNEY — Australian shipbuilder Austal said on October 14 it had extended the due diligence period for South Korea's Hanwha Group, allowing the conglomerate more time to formulate a formal offer for its U.S. business, Reuters reported. Austal shares jumped as much as 11.5 percent to A$4.18, posting their strongest intraday gain since August 11.
Austal said commercial negotiations with Hanwha had started on the terms of a potential transaction, while the company also continues to assess its tax implications. Regarding due diligence, the company said substantive issues in the data room have been closed out and the original parameters of the transaction have not changed, though a tail of lower-materiality data requests remains outstanding. Austal said it also remains in discussions with U.S.-based Wildcat Infrastructure regarding its proposal to acquire Austal's U.S. operations.
Wildcat offered up to US$1.35 billion in September for Austal's U.S. business, topping an earlier bid of up to US$1.20 billion from Hanwha, according to Reuters. Austal is one of Australia's main defence shipbuilders, and its U.S. unit builds vessels for customers including the U.S. Navy.
(Sources: Reuters, Austal company statement)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Christian Mehlführer, User:Chmehl／CC BY 2.5（Wikimedia Commons）
