AIM takeover18 Jul 2018 08:09
Took this off another bb. I'm not sure whether this still relates to an Australian company, but it makes interesting reading.
you may want to see how takeovers are done on AIM ...type in Google AIM cancel shares takeover
The general rule under the Takeover Code is that a shareholder who acquires 30% or more of the voting rights in a quoted company must make an offer to purchase all of the shares in that company. However, if that shareholder holds over 50% of the voting rights already, then he can increase his stake without restriction. A shareholder could own over 50% of the voting rights of a company because he owned that stake when it came to market or because he has increased his stake and obtained a waiver of the obligation under Rule 9 of the Takeover Code, allowing him to own shares equal to or in excess of 30% of the voting rights of the company without having to make a general offer for all of the shares in the company. Such a waiver may be given by the Panel in specific circumstances, for example where new shares in the company are issued as consideration for an acquisition or where an underwriter incurs an obligation to make a general offer as a result of underwriting an issue of shares.
With a 75% vote being required to delist a company from AIM, it is possible for a company to delist and leave its minorities high and dry on the vote of just one major shareholder. Following such a delisting, shareholders may find themselves with no market for their shares, other than the possibility of a matched bargain service.