Companies warn shareholders of predatory offers
Posted
Some of Australia's biggest companies are calling for legislative changes so they can better protect their investors from predatory share offers.
Large corporations are warning their share holders to ignore unsolicited letters they may receive from a company called Hassle Free Share Sales.
The company has a history of offering to buy shares from shareholders at less than half their market value.
Hassle Free has recently sought shareholders' details from companies including National Australia Bank (NAB), Woolworths and BHP Billiton.
By law, companies have to make their share register available to anyone who pays a fee to access it.
NAB spokeswoman Felicity Glennie-Holmes says although companies are required by law to provide copies of their share registries, most shareholders consider it an invasion of privacy.
"Shareholders rightly consider that to be an invasion of their privacy and there's little that a company can do because they are obliged to provide the copy," she said.
Ms Glennie-Holmes says shareholders who receive a letter from the company should tear it up.
"Hassle Free can legally make these unsolicited offers and while we strongly object to their approach, there's nothing to prevent them from making an offer like this," she said.
"We would be pushing for legislative change, it's a matter that can only be fixed through legislative change and we'll be making our case to the Government directly on that."
A spokeswoman for Federal Minister for Corporate Law, Nick Sherry, says the Government is closely examining access to share registers which permit predatory share offers and whether reforms are appropriate.
While the ABC has been unable to contact or locate a website for Hassle Free, numerous online blogs and forums name the company and warn that it makes unreasonable offers and could potentially "prey on more vulnerable, older shareholders".
A letter sent out by Woodside Petroleum to its shareholders in July warning about Hassle Free Share Sales named Suzanne Forster as the owner of the company.
