Allied Farmers cancels vote

Allied Farmers has waived a controversial condition on its takeover offer for Prime Finance that required the approval of its own shareholders for the deal to go ahead.

Allied shareholders had been due to vote on the $15.6 million takeover this month but chairman John Loughlin said yesterday the vote had been cancelled after attracting the scrutiny of the Takeovers Panel.

Takeover rules state that satisfaction of an offer condition cannot depend on the judgment of the offerer, or be within the power, or under the control of, the offerer.

Loughlin said although the Allied board still thought it was good governance to ask shareholders for a formal resolution of support, the panel's decision last week to investigate the vote's legitimacy had created uncertainty.