by James Halliday and Joel B. Payne
The Fogarty Wine Group, an Australian winery that makes Millbrook and Lakes Folly, emerged early last week as a potential shareholder for Evans & Tate after its main creditor, the ANZ banking group, was unable to find another investor the
business. Although the bank made no immediate decision on the matter, the board at Evans & Tate endorsed the bid.
At that same time, analysts believed that Yarraman, who had begun its courtship of Evans & Tate last year, was considering another bid. They had terminated discussions in March after their second bid was turned down.
Now the company has announced through ANZ a restructuring plan to raise AUD61.7 million (€38.87m) by selling new shares at a third of last week’s trading price, which would allow a subsidiary of Peter Fogarty, Pendulum Capital, to aquire a fourth of the financially crippled Evans & Tate. The plan, which would see 430 million new shares issued, is expected to be put to a shareholder vote in late August or September.
After coming off a three-day trading halt, shares in the company slumped 3c to 12c, down from a high of $1.68 in October 2001.
