What: Asciano Ltd (ASX: AIO) has entered a trading halt before the start of trade on Monday morning.
So What: On 1 July Asciano provided an announcement to the market confirming that it had received a proposal from Brookfield Infrastructure Group to acquire all of its shares at an implied value of $9.05 per share in cash and script – the script portion being units in Brookfield's listed infrastructure fund, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P.
The board of Asciano viewed the proposal as having merit and concluded that it was in the interests of shareholders to engage further with Brookfield on an exclusive basis to progress the proposal. As such, Brookfield was granted the right to conduct due diligence.
Now What: With the stock now in a trading halt, having last traded at $8.11 per share, shareholders will be eagerly awaiting further news. They shouldn't have to wait long with Asciano noting in its request for a halt today that it expected to make an announcement to the ASX shortly.
For savvy investors mergers and acquisitions can offer short-term gains for those prepared to act quickly and weigh up the risks versus potential reward from arbitraging the differential between the offer price and the market price. Currently other arbitrage opportunities include the takeover for Vision Eye Institute Limited (ASX: VEI).