Australian takeover panel rejects Hochtief ACS appeal

The Australian anti-trust authorities on Monday dismissed an appeal by Hochtief for Spain's ACS to launch a full takeover bid for its Leighton Holdings unit in conjunction with its offer for the German builder.

ACS has made a hostile lowball all-share offer for Hochtief, which holds 54.5 percent of Leighton. ACS already holds just under 30 percent of Hochtief, Germany's biggest builder.

The Australian government's Takeover Panel said it saw reason to reverse an earlier decision by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) rejecting the need for ACS, Spain's biggest construction group, to launch a full bid for Leighton.

Hochtief, which argues that the acquisition of its stake in Leighton by ACS would harm the interests of minority shareholders, said Monday it plans to appeal the decision of the Takeover Panel.

ACS has said it does not intend to modify any of the existing agreements between Hochtief and Leighton.

The Spanish company, which is headed by the Real Madrid soccer team's chairman, Florentino Pérez, is offering eight of its own shares for five of Hochtief's, valuing the German company at some

2.7 billion euros.

ACS is looking to increase its stake to above 50 percent, which would allow it to include Hochtief within the consolidation perimeter of its own earnings.