Tension between management group Regent Pacific and Pioneer Industries International (Holdings) has intensified in the run-up to a meeting of Regent shareholders to approve a $784 million hostile takeover bid of Pioneer.
The meeting to approve the general offer for 78.7 per cent of Pioneer that Regent does not own will be held today, the latest move in its two-year bid to gain control of Pioneer.
Kenneth Gaw, the chairman of Pioneer, a property and investment holding company, said a detailed circular was being drafted to reject Regent's general offer.
'We plan to release the circular on May 7, a week before the closing of the offer,' Mr Gaw said.
Regent executive director Peter Everington said it was premature to say how many shareholders had taken up the offer, but said: 'I'm confident of a fair fight.' The crux of the battle rests on the shareholding structure of Pioneer.
Regent is the single largest shareholder in the company, with a 21.3 per cent stake.