Department store David Jones has added its two cents on Woolworths' proposed takeover bid for Country Road.
The retailer, which at the centre of what appears to be a war of the titans between Woolworths and power broker Solomon Lew, has piped up about the latest move by Woolworths.
Contributing a public statement, David Jones said that the recent announcement by Woolworths will “not impact the timing of the David Jones scheme meeting scheduled to take place on July 14, 2014”.
“The David Jones board notes however that further developments could result in a further postponement of the scheme meeting.
“This takeover bid is conditional on, amongst other things, the David Jones scheme of arrangement proposed by Woolworths becoming effective. David Jones understands that entities associated with Solomon Lew hold approximately 11.8 per cent of Country Road Limited.”
David Jones added that the board continues to assess the implications of the 9.89 per cent stake in David Jones that entities associated with Lew's hold.
David Jones said it will continue to keep its shareholders updated in accordance with its continuous disclosure obligations.
The company reiterated that, in the absence of a superior proposal, the board unanimously recommends that David Jones shareholders vote in favour of the Woolworths proposal.
As, to date, no superior proposal has emerged, accordingly the David Jones directors confirmed that they intend to vote all the David Jones shares held or controlled by them in favour of the Woolworths proposal.
As previously reported on ragtrader.com.au, David Jones had postponed its scheme meeting from June 30, 2014 to July 14, 2014 after Lew made a strategic shareholder move, complicating proceedings.
Upon request, the Federal Court had granted this postponement to allow sufficient time for the David Jones board to assess the implications of Australian Retail Investments' (ARI) shareholding in David Jones for shareholders.
ARI is a private investment company owned by Solomon Lew.