Opus International Consultants : shareholders strongly advised to wait before responding to WSP's offer

1 September 2017

Opus International Consultants has today received notification from WSP NZ Acquisition Limited (WSP) that it has despatched its takeover offer document to Opus shareholders.

Opus' board has appointed a subcommittee of Independent Directors to consider the offer.

'The Independent Directors strongly recommend that shareholders wait until we release the Target Company Statement before they respond to WSP's offer. The Target Company Statement, which will be issued within the next two weeks, will contain important information that should be considered as part of their decision-making process,' Board Chair, Keith Watson said.

'Shareholders will have at least 90 days to accept the offer, so there is no benefit to accepting the offer before the Target Company Statement is released. Early responders will not receive priority over other shareholders nor be paid any earlier,' he stressed.

The WSP offer document relates to a full takeover offer under the Takeovers Code for all of the ordinary shares in Opus at $1.78 per share in cash. The offer terms also permit Opus to pay a dividend of up to 7 cents per share prior to closing of the offer, without adjustment to the offer price.

The independent directors are in the process of considering the offer and will be providing a recommendation to shareholders by 15 September 2017. That recommendation will be contained in a comprehensive package from Opus comprising the Target Company Statement and an independent report on the merits of the offer prepared by the independent advisory firm, KordaMentha.

While the sub-committee of the Board is considering Opus' position in relation to the takeover notice, it does not consider it appropriate to comment on the merits of the proposed offer.

The sub-committee comprises Keith Watson, Alan Isaac and Sam Knowles. None of the members of the sub-committee have any association with WSP.

Opus released its half-year report on 15 August. The report is available here: www.opus.co.nz/investor-centre/annual-and-half-year-report/

ENDS

For further information please contact:

Alison Swan
Opus Company Secretary
[e-mail]
021 890 725