It's been a wild rise for market watchers interested in Wesfarmers Ltd's (ASX: WES) takeover of Australian Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd (ASX: API).
The company's bid has been blindsided twice, once by Sigma Healthcare Ltd (ASX: SIG) and another by its retail peer Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW).
For those excited by the prospective takeover, Wesfarmers' bid is now the last one standing.
At the time of writing, the Wesfarmers share price is $57.40. Meanwhile, API's shares are trading for $1.52 apiece.
Here's how it's expected to play out from here.
What's next for Wesfarmers' takeover of API?
Wesfarmers' bid is the last on the table for Priceline owner, API. Woolworths withdrew its $1.75 per share takeover offer for the company on Friday, leaving the door wide open for Wesfarmers' $1.55 offer.
However, Wesfarmers' takeover of API has several hurdles to complete before it can take effect.
At this stage, the exact dates to complete them haven't been released. Though, they might be placed on the table shortly.
The first will be the release of a scheme booklet. The booklet will contain an independent expert's report on the transaction, directors' recommendations, and details on the scheme meeting.
That is expected to drop early this year, meaning its release could be imminent.
The takeover will need to be approved by most API shareholders. Shareholders will be able to vote on the transaction at the scheme meeting, the date for which will likely be found in the scheme booklet.
The takeover also needs to get approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the courts.
As long as each of these key happenings proceeds, the takeover is expected to happen before the end of the March quarter.
Wesfarmers initially placed a $1.38 per share bid for API – representing a 21% premium to its last close.
That was bumped to $1.55 after API rejected it in July. However, the bid was to be minus any dividends to API shareholders prior to the takeover becoming effective.
As API paid its investors a 2-cent dividend in December, Wesfarmers' offer has been dropped to $1.53 per share.
Since Wesfarmers placed its first bid for API, the Priceline owner's share price has gained 31%. Meanwhile, that of Wesfarmers is trading 0.8% lower than it was at the time of its initial bid.
