20 Nov 2009

Hanover trustees to scrutinise Allied offer information

2:14 pm on 20 November 2009

The major trustee in Hanover Finance says it's continuing to monitor the struggling firm's performance and to check it's complying with the conditions set out in the moratorium.

Allied Farmers plans to buy the loan books of Hanover Finance and United Finance in a deal worth $400 million, and offer Hanover and United investors shares in return.

Guardian Trust covers about 13,000 debenture holders who are owned about $450 million dollars.

The general manager of Corporate Trusts at Guardian, Bryan Connor, says it is focusing on making sure investors get all the information they need to make an informed decision on Allied Farmers' offer.

Mr Connor says it will have input into the report being done for shareholders, Mark Hotchin and Eric Watson, by Grant Samuel.

He says Guardian will put additional information into its letter to debenture holders if it feels the report leaves out important matters.

If the meeting is delayed until next year, Mr Connor says Hanover is still scheduled to pay a 2c payment late December.

Another trustee, Perpetual Trust, says any information sent to investors must be clear, understandable and accurate, and must disclose all the relevant information they need to make an informed decision.

Perpetual Trust chief executive Louise Edwards says she will scrutinise and approve all communication to investors, to make sure it meets these standards.