Australian ports firm accepts $4.2B takeover

Australian ports operator Patrick Corp. has accepted a 5.81 billion Australian dollar ($4.23 billion) takeover offer from shipper Toll Holdings Ltd. that will create one of the world's largest transport and logistics group, company executives announced Friday.

Toll's final bid, announced Friday, is nine percent higher than its last offer in March and concludes an eight-month battle by managing director Paul Little to acquire Patrick despite a fierce defense by Patrick's board.

Patrick directors agreed Thursday night they would unanimously recommend the deal to shareholders, Patrick managing director Chris Corrigan said at a joint news conference with Little in the southern city of Melbourne.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

The companies expect to submit the agreement to Patrick's shareholders by April 21.

The final cash and share offer values Patrick at 8.26 Australian dollars ($6.01) a share, well above its closing share price Thursday of 8.03 Australian dollars ($5.84) and at the top end of the last independent expert valuation range for the group.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

Toll raised the base cash component to 3 Australian dollars ($2.20) a share, from 1.90 Australian dollars ($1.38), while leaving unchanged the offer of 0.4 Toll shares for each Patrick share.

The combination of Toll and Patrick will create an integrated logistics group with a market value of about 10 billion Australian dollars ($7 billion), based on Toll's closing share price of 13.15 Australian dollars ($9.57) Thursday.

Toll made its first tilt at Patrick last August with a bid of 4.6 billion Australian dollars ($335 million) and raised that last month to 5.27 billion Australian dollars ($3.84 billion).