It's been an interesting day for the Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) share price so far this Thursday. After rising strongly following market open this morning, Wesfarmers shares have since lost their steam.
This ASX 200 retail and industrial conglomerate initially rose up to $52.75 a share in early trading but has since retreated to $52.35 a share, down 0.07%.
This share price volatility comes on a big day for Wesfarmers and its shareholders, with two important bits of news to discuss.
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Silk Laser acquisition moves forward
Firstly, let's talk about the announcement Wesfarmers put out last night after market close. As most company investors would know, Wesfarmers has been pursuing the full acquisition of Silk Laser Australia Ltd (ASX: SLA).
Back in August, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) gave Wesfarmers the green light to pursue its takeover of Silk Laser through its API (Priceline) subsidiary. Existing Silk Laser shareholders will receive $3.35 in cash per share if the acquisition is to go through.
The announcement last night confirmed that the Federal Court has approved a meeting of Silk Laser shareholders to vote on the proposed acquisition by Wesfarmers, as well as the distribution of an explanatory statement to shareholders.
Silk Laser shareholders will now vote on the acquisition next month on 10 November.
Silk Laser has also told investors that it has prepared an "independent expert's report" on the acquisition. According to Lonergan Edwards & Associates Limited, the proposal is "fair and reasonable to, and therefore in the best interests of, SILK shareholders in the absence of a superior proposal".
This has led to the Silk Laser board recommending the takeover to shareholders. Here's what the board has told investors:
The SILK Directors unanimously recommend that SILK shareholders vote in favour of the Scheme, in the absence of a superior proposal and provided that the Independent Expert continues to conclude that the Scheme is in the best interest of SILK shareholders.
Furthermore, each of the SILK Directors intends to vote all the SILK shares held or controlled by them in favour of the Scheme, in the absence of a Superior Proposal and provided that the Independent Expert continues to conclude that the Scheme is in the best interests of SILK Shareholders
So that's one bit of major news worth discussing today.
It's pay day for Wesfarmers shares
The next bit of news concerns Wesfarmers' latest dividend payment. Back in late August, we warned investors that if they wished to receive Wesfarmers' upcoming final dividend, they had to own Wesfarmers shares before the company traded ex-dividend on 30 August.
Well, for those lucky investors who did so, today is dividend payday. Yep, all eligible Wesfarmers shareholders are set to receive the final dividend worth a fully franked $1.03 per share. Investors will appreciate the fact that this final dividend represents a 3% rise over last year's equivalent payment worth $1 per share.
So a good day all around for Wesfarmers shares this Thursday. At the current Wesfarmers share price of $52.51, this ASX 200 stock is up 15.5% in 2023 so far and has a dividend yield of 3.64%.
