Disgruntled minority shareholders in Citybus Group are to make a formal complaint to financial regulators over the general offer for the company by British transport firm Stagecoach Holdings.
Describing the offer as 'unfair', five shareholders who together hold more than two million shares rejected the unconditional general offer and said they would complain to the stock exchange and the Securities and Futures Commission.
The shareholders all acquired Citybus stock for about $4 a share in February last year when its price had surged on expectations it would win routes formerly run by China Motor Bus.
The routes, however, were eventually awarded to New World First Bus.
Stagecoach is offering $1.95 for every Citybus share it does not own after buying a 47.75 per cent stake from CNT Group and China Travel International Investment Hong Kong on January 19 at the same price.
Shareholder Peter Crush said he paid about $2.24 million for 560,000 Citybus shares, or $4 a share, and had suffered a $1.15 million paper loss as a result of the general offer.
'These are my life-savings and I can't afford to sell the shares at half of what I paid. I understand the market downturn has affected the stock, but Stagecoach's offer is not justified considering Citybus' future profitability,' he said.