It has been reported that the Italian firm, which has bid A$550m (£225m) for the Australasian optician, is 15 per cent short of its minimum acceptance target of 90 per cent among OPSM shareholders.
Following financial results which showed OPSM's annual net profit had dipped by 21 per cent for the year to June 30, The Australian (August 28) reported that five institutional shareholders had created a voting block to disrupt the takeover bid.
OPSM chief executive Jonathan Pinshaw told the newspaper that the shareholders' assertion that the business was worth more than the A$3.90 a share offer was wrong. 'We have got more information than they have and if I was a fund manager, I would not be betting against management,' he told The Australian.
The offer, which was scheduled to close on August 29, was first made in the spring (News, May 2), and it has been claimed that it will now be extended once more.
For the 12 months to June 30 net profit after tax and 'significant items' for OPSM was A$20.3m, down from A$25.7m. Part of the decline was due to a significant item of A$2.2m caused directly by Luxottica's offer which 'consumed considerable management time and resources'.
However, more significant to its weakened performance was the Sars virus which had a severe impact on consumer spending in OPSM's key Asian markets of Hong Kong (where OPSM has 76 stores) and Singapore (12 stores). The adverse impact of Sars on the group's trading profit was estimated to be A$4.5m before tax during the year to June 30.
Pinshaw said: 'The last year was a challenging one for OPSM Group with several events, most notably the Sars epidemic in Asia, making our earnings environment a difficult one. When significant items, representing a combined charge of A$5.2m to net profit before tax, and the Sars impact of A$4.5m before tax are excluded our result was very satisfactory and well in line with market forecasts.'
He added that the cash offer had been accepted by 74.78 per cent of shareholders by value and 87.91 per cent by number by August 25 2003.
www.opsmgroup.com
The giant global takeover deal between Luxottica and 607-store Australian retail group OPSM was in the balance this week.