Insurance Australia Group Limited (IAG) has welcomed the passage through parliament of the Corporations Amendment (No.1) Bill 2010.
IAG Group General Manager, Corporate Affairs & Investor Relations, Ms Carolyn McCann, said the legislation would help protect shareholders from undervalued and unsolicited offers for their shares by making it more difficult to obtain access to information kept on shareholder registers.
“This has been an issue of interest to us for some time, given our large retail shareholder base. We welcome the cooperation throughout the parliament that has allowed the quick passage of this bill,” Ms McCann said.
Over the years, IAG shareholders have been targeted by various organisations making unsolicited offers for their shares at a value that was significantly lower than the prevailing share price.
Since 2002, around 16,000 IAG shareholders have agreed to sell their ordinary shares for less than market value, in response to undervalued offers. This has resulted in a cumulative transfer in value of approximately $17 million to these organisations over that time. This estimate is based on the difference between the price shareholders would have received had they sold their shares on-market compared with the price received under the unsolicited share offers.
“Naturally, IAG does not endorse such offers and we always urge shareholders to seek independent financial advice if they are considering selling their shares,” Ms McCann said.
Source : IAG Press Release
