Village bumps up Sydney Attractions offer

In a final bid to takeover Sydney Attractions Group, Village Roadshow have made one final offer to shareholders of $6.50 per share conditional of acquisition of at least 35% of the shares in the group.

For two months Village Roadshow has had Sydney Attractions Group (SAG) in its sights. The media company and theme park operator believes that the company is underperforming under its current management and initiated a share takeover offer in early September. Initially offering a cash price of $6.01 per share for the Sydney-based tourism operator that owns and manages the Sydney Aquarium, Wildlife World, Sydney Tower (pictured), OzTrek, Manly Oceanworld and Shark Dive Xtreme.

Following the unsolicited offer, SAG's board advised shareholders not to accept the offer, believing that it undervalues the company, which failed to meet expectations, especially for its latest venture, Wildlife World, an inner-Sydney zoo.

Since the offer was made acceptances were received for over 500,000 shares and Village -- already a major shareholder with nearly 20 per cent ownership of the company or 4.3 million shares -- saw its stake increase to 22.25 per cent.

In their latest letter to SAG shareholders, Village insists that a change in direction of its marketing, attention to margins and a revamp of food and beverage operation are some of the key points that are holding the company back presently. Citing expertise in Village Roadshow's theme park division, including CEO John Menzies, marine sciences director Trevor Long, Village Believes its experienced Gold Coast team can assist greatly in revamping the Sydney company.

Village still maintains that their original $6.01 offer was fair, but they were prepared to increase the offer to entice more shareholders to accept the offer. The $6.50 cash offer represents a premium on the company's recent trading prices

 The offer has been extended by two weeks to December 1 2007, insisting that it is Village Roadshow's last and final price offer.