10.00am
SYDNEY - In a move regarded by Telstra as a hoax, an Auckland-based company has made a A$60 billion ($64.28 billion) bid for the telecommunications giant.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the privately-held investment company King Win Laurel International has launched an unsolicited takeover for Telstra five months after failing
to acquire New Zealand fast food operator Restaurant Brands.
King Win's head, Xiufeng Zhang, sent copies of the company's offer to the Telstra board of directors, Treasurer Peter Costello and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
But Telstra spokesman Michael Grealy told the paper the offer "appears likely to be a hoax".
Mr Grealy said the offer faced "a number of insurmountable obstacles" -- including breaches of corporations law and the Takeovers Act.
Telstra has declined to reply to the offer and ASIC has declined to lodge it, the paper reported.
King Win Laurel withdrew a bizarre takeover over for Restaurant Brands in May this year after being contacted by the Takeovers Panel.
Restaurant Brands, which owns the New Zealand KFC, Starbucks and Pizza Hut operations, believed the offer did not comply with the Takeovers Code.
The offer was described by one analyst as "even more farcical than a letter from Nigeria".
Previously unknown, King Win Laurel has its registered office in Auckland and is 60 per cent owned by Kingwin Holdings of Harley St, London, and 40 per cent by Ying Wang of Blockhouse Bay, Auckland.
- AAP and NZPA
