E-Malt.com News article: 3341

Australia: ABB Grains announce on September 28 that trading of the new ABB B-Class shares allocated to previous shareholders of United Grower Holdings Ltd (UGH) and AusBulk Ltd (excluding UGH) began on 28 September on a deferred settlement basis. Approximately 90.67 million ABB B-Class shares were issued a day before to UGH and AusBulk scheme shareholders (excluding UGH) as part of the two schemes of arrangement. These shares are in addition to the already existing 48.83 million ABB B-Class shares, taking the total amount of ABB B-Class shares on offer now to 139.5 million.

ABB chairman Perry Gunner said that although holding statements for the new ABB shares would not be dispatched until October 5, shareholders were able to trade their shares from today onwards. “The new B-Class shareholders, although they have not yet received their holding statements, can begin trading their shares on a deferred settlement basis,” Mr Gunner said.

“This means that previous AusBulk and UGH shareholders who are entitled to ABB B-Class shares can sell their shares now, however the sale will not be settled until the end of the deferred settlement period. “There is no change for already existing ABB shareholders, who are able to trade their existing B-Class shares on a normal T+3 (day of trading plus three days) settlement basis.”

The final day for deferred settlement trading is October 5, when the new holding statements are dispatched. Until this time, ABB shares will trade as two separate groups – already existing shares trading under the normal T+3 settlement basis (ASX code: ABB), and newly issued ABB shares trading under the deferred settlement basis (ASX code: ABBN). These two groups will not necessarily be trading at the same prices.

When trading opens on October 6 the two groups of shares will merge into one (ASX code: ABB) and all shares will trade under the normal T+3 settlement basis. At this time the sales made during the deferred settlement period will be settled.

People who wish to know how many B-Class shares they have been issued can call ABB’s share registry, Computershare Investor Services, on 1300 550 374. To obtain holding details, shareholders must be able to provide their full registered details to Computershare.

To trade their new ABB B-Class shares, shareholders should contact their stockbroker. Shareholders are encouraged to seek independent financial advice to ensure they fully understand the taxation implications of selling shares.


29 September, 2004