Court intervenes in C&W Optus, AAPT bid

Cable & Wireless Optus' $1.5 billion takeover bid for AAPT has entered the Supreme Court.

AAPT yesterday announced it has obtained an injunction preventing C&W Optus from delivering its Part A document to AAPT shareholders until a number of concerns are addressed.

Optus released the Part A document to AAPT on April 28. It is expected to serve the statement to shareholders later this week, but will have to wait until the case is heard before the court on Thursday, officials said.

According to Mark Devine, spokesperson for AAPT, the telecommunications provider is not "trying to block" the bid in anyway but is rather seeking clarification on certain issues contained within the Part A document.

Devine said AAPT would like clarification on some issues before the document is served to its shareholders later this week. AAPT does not expect the injunction to "drag on" for any length of time, he said.

According to Devine, AAPT plans to release the Part B document containing its response early next week.

C& W Optus declined to comment on the matter.