2009 - Takeover Notice Received

On 14 September 2009, Marlborough Lines Limited (MLL) made a conditional offer to acquire 51 percent of the company’s shares at a price of $3.96 per share. The Whakatāne Beacon announced the buy-out bid on 15 September, noting that it was a $50.5 million offer for a majority shareholding.

The offer caught Horizon unawares.

“One Friday afternoon, following the close of the Stock Exchange trading I had a visit from the chairman of the Marlborough Lines Company to personally advise me that a takeover notice was to be lodged with Horizon Energy on the following Monday morning. Marlborough was seeking to acquire 50.1 percent of the ordinary shares in Horizon. He had chartered a plane to fly up to attend this meeting and I acknowledged this courtesy and thanked him for the prior advice of the notice.

Knowing that the Eastern Bay Energy Trust at that time held approximately 73 percent of the shares in Horizon, I asked the Marlborough chairman if he had contacted or made any arrangements with the trust, as the majority shareholder, to sell any of its shareholdings. He said that it wasn’t part of their plan and hadn’t done so.

As their taxi returning them to the airport drew away, I immediately telephoned the chairman of the trust who advised me that they would not be a seller of any of their shares. This takeover bid started a long and expensive series of events for the company and the Marlborough attempted takeover ultimately failed.

In my view, a phone call to the chairman of the trust by Marlborough prior to initiating their plan would have avoided an unnecessary and expensive process. In due course, the Eastern Bay Energy Trust acquired 100 percent of Horizon Energy and today enjoys the receipt of substantial profits from the company on behalf of the Eastern Bay community.”

Rob Tait
Former Horizon chairman