From The Australian "Capitol offer to lapse. Capitol Health...

From The Australian


"Capitol offer to lapse. Capitol Health chairman Andrew Demetriou as expected gave notice he would let his failed offer for Integral Diagnostics lapse when it expires at month’s end.
Capitol’s stock price edged higher to 28c, giving the company a market valuation of $220.7 million, while Integral was down slightly at $2.10, representing a market value of $306m.
The two companies had preliminary talks in the middle of the year but Integral chair Helen Kurincic and her board decided there was not enough value in the deal and so the high-level talks ended.
In November, Demetriou decided to go hostile with a scrip-based bid that then valued Integral at $2.40 a share. This was well below the Lonergan Edwards valuation of between $2.77 and $3.05 a share, so Kurincic and her colleagues were vindicated.
While the two companies have a common share register, the Integral holders were not a big fan of Capitol’s scrip and likewise the bidder’s shareholders wondered if the deal was dead why the board kept plugging away.
The costs were edging up even if Rothschild didn’t get close to its $5m success fee. European private equity house Permira spent $1.3bn in January to buy Australia’s biggest diagnostic house, I-Med, and the question now is whether it is interested in buy more.
Capitol is Victorian-based, as is Integral, but the latter has a comprehensive interstate network.
The ACCC would take an interest in any moves to narrow the field."