Resimac knocks rival RHG bid

Pepper Australia and Cadence Capital's (CDM) sweetened takeover bid for RHG (RHG) is not in the best interests of shareholders, according to rival bidder the Resimac syndicate.

In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange earlier this week, Pepper and Cadence said their counterproposal is worth 50.8 cents per share, higher than the Resimac Syndicate's offer of 49.5 cents per share.

Pepper's offer comprises 36 cents per share in cash and one share in Cadence for every 10 shares held in RHG.

Cadence said as the largest institutional shareholder of RHG, it does not support Resimac's offer as a consequence of the higher proposal.

However, Resimac said the revised Pepper proposal was highly conditional and favoured Cadence on both terms and benefits.

"It fails to deliver better certain value than the alternative proposal from Resimac and Australian Mortgage Acquisition Company," Resimac said.

Resimac said it continued to believe its offer, as recommended by the RHG board, was superior.

Upon lobbing the revised proposal, Pepper chairman Michael Culhane said the RHG board "appears to have been quite selective in how they have evaluated the Pepper scheme proposals to date".

The RHG board previously accepted the Resimac Syndicate's sweetened takeover offer, which valued the target at almost $153 million, offering cash consideration of 49.5 cents per share.