Solomon Lew may have been clear in his wish for the current Myer board to be stood down, but he says his Premier Investments has “no current intention” of attempting a takeover of Myer, despite pushing for the retailer to release its preliminary financial results.
Premier Investments, which is Myer’s biggest shareholder with a stake of 15.77 per cent, released a statement in response to reports that Myer had hired a defence adviser, Luminis. Such a step is usually taken by a company when it believes it is about to be the target of a takeover offer.
“Premier Investments Limited notes press articles relating to Myer Limited’s appointment of ‘defence’ advisers,” it said in a statement.
“Premier advises that it has no current intention of launching a takeover offer for Myer.”
Solomon Lew.
Premier Investments is the largest stakeholder in Myer, with a 15.77 per cent holding. Yesterday the company called for Myer to release its financials, so potential board members had time to assess the figures before the AGM in late October. Although Lew isn’t pushing for a takeover, he is still baying for the board.
“Premier also acknowledges that Myer has confirmed that it is ‘fully aware of its continuous disclosure obligations’,” Premier said.
“According to Bloomberg, analyst consensus for fiscal 2021 has net income for Myer of $33.5 million. In fiscal 2020, Myer reported a statutory net loss after tax of $172.4 million.
“Does the Myer board consider that Bloomberg consensus reflects the benchmark for updating the market or do they look to the $172.4 million loss from fiscal 2020 as the relevant benchmark?
“All Myer shareholders will remain in the dark until the Myer board does what Premier and the vast majority of other retailers have done and update the market as a matter of urgency.”
