EQUITICORP TASMAN TO BID FOR MONIER LTD
  &lt;Equiticorp Tasman Ltd> (ETL) said it will
  offer 4.15 dlrs a share cash for all the issued capital of
  Monier Ltd &lt;MNRA.S>, currently the subject of a 3.80 dlrs a
  share bid by CSR Ltd &lt;CSRA.S>.
      Alternatively, ETL will offer three shares plus 82 cents
  cash for each Monier share, it said in a statement.
      As previously reported, ETL moved into the market for
  Monier shares last week, taking its stake to 13.7 pct by
  Friday.
      It now holds 14.99 pct, the maximum allowed without Foreign
  Investment Review Board (FIRB) approval. ETL is classified as
  foreign because of its New Zealand base.
      The ETL cash offer values Monier's issued capital of 156.28
  mln shares at 649 mln dlrs, against 593 mln for the CSR bid.
      Based on the current price of ETL shares of 1.05 dlrs, the
  alternative is worth 3.97 dlrs per share, but ETL said the
  value placed on its shares for the offer aproximates to the
  diluted asset backing of ETL as at March 31.
      ETL said the offer will have no minimum acceptance
  conditions and will be subject to Australian foreign investment
  and U.S. Hart-Scott-Rodino anti-trust clearances.
      ETL chairman Allan Hawkins said in the statement that the
  shareholding in Monier was a long term investment.
      ETL and its &lt;Feltex International Ltd> associate have
  targetted the building products sector as an area of expansion
  and Monier fits well with this aim, he added.
      Monier chairman Bill Locke said in a separate statement
  that the independent directors of Monier intend to recommend
  acceptance of the ETL bid in the absence of a higher bid.
      He also said Monier will not now proceed with the
  one-for-two bonus issue announced with its interim results on
  March 19 in view of the proposed takeover bids.
      As previously reported, the CSR offer involves a complex
  put and call option deal with Monier's major shareholder,
  Redland Plc &lt;RDLD.L>, which gives Redland the choice of
  accepting the CSR offer for its 49.8 pct stake or moving to
  50.1 pct within six months of the bid closing.
      CSR officials have made it clear that they see Redland
  taking the second option, resulting in the two companies
  running Monier as a joint venture.
      CSR officials have also said they had no intention of
  raising the company's bid for Monier after ETL's intervention
  became public last week.
  

