Borse Dubai violated Swedish takeover law
Agencies
Published: August 23, 2007, 15:55
gulfnews.com
Stockholm: A Swedish regulator said on Thursday state-run Borse Dubai violated Swedish takeover law in the run-up to a bid for exchange owner OMX but no action against the group was planned.
Sweden's Financial Supervisory Authority said that in deciding later whether to block any purchase of OMX, it would take into account anything that might affect its view of a potential owner. But a regulatory official declined to comment directly on how the breach would be viewed.
Borse Dubai, which has bid $4 billion, is locked in a battle with US exchange Nasdaq to buy the Nordic operator. Nasdaq has an agreed cash-and-shares offer currently valued at $3.7 billion.
The regulator said Borse Dubai breached the law when it first announced it was buying shares in OMX this month, but as the group followed that up with a formal bid it would not be taking action.
The regulator had been investigating whether the announcement, made in a press release, constituted a formal bid and as such whether the company should have filed an offer document.
"Borse Dubai's press release announced on Aug 9, 2007 was a public takeover bid. As a consequence, Borse Dubai has breached the Act on Takeovers in the stock market," the regulator said in a statement.
"Borse Dubai has subsequently complied with the act therefore no further action will be taken," it said.
Borse Dubai issued a news release on Aug 9 saying it had begun a book-building process in OMX.
The Dubai group said it had entered agreements to buy shares at 230 crowns each as it aimed to amass a stake of 25 percent. Later that day it said it had bought 4.9 percent of OMX and had agreements to buy 22.5 percent more.
On Aug 17, Borse Dubai unveiled an offer of 230 crowns per share for OMX, which runs exchanges in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and the Baltic states.
Bisher Barazi, managing director of DIFC Investments, a shareholder in Borse Dubai, declined to comment. Essa Kazim, chairman of Borse Dubai, could not immediately be reached for comments.
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