Australian takeover target BlueScope charms shareholders with $293 million dividend
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FILE PHOTO: A worker stands next to a furnace at the BlueScope steelworks, Port Kembla, Australia February 9, 2024. REUTERS/Lewis Jackson/File Photo
Jan 14 (Reuters) - BlueScope Steel will return A$438 million ($292.54 million) of surplus cash to shareholders as a special dividend, the Australian company said on Wednesday, days after rejecting an A$13.2 billion takeover approach.
The company, which manufactures steel products for the construction and infrastructure sectors, recently turned down a A$30-a-share cash approach from Australian conglomerate SGH and U.S.-based Steel Dynamics.
AustralianSuper, BlueScope's largest investor, backed the rejection, saying the offer did not reflect underlying value.
The special dividend of A$1 per share, which would be paid on February 24, is only the fifth since BlueScope went public more than two decades ago, the first since 2021, and five times larger than the previous record special distribution in 2005.
The steelmaker's shares were trading 0.5% lower at A$29.69 each as of 0443 GMT, only a few pips below the offer price.
The Melbourne-based company said the special payout was "independent of any prior or potential future proposals for the company," and would be funded through surplus cash generated from the sale of its 50% stake in the Tata BlueScope joint venture, land divestitures, and working capital releases.
The company said it opted to return capital via dividend because a share buyback was not possible given the current corporate scenario.
Free cash generation is set to ramp up over the next 12-18 months, and capital expenditure is expected to reduce by A$500 million in the next financial year relative to the current fiscal, BlueScope said.
($1 = 1.4972 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee and Sameer Manekar; Editing by Alan Barona and Mrigank Dhaniwala)
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