Corporations Act 2001

A bidder, or an associate, must not, during the offer period for a takeover bid, give, offer to give or agree to give a benefit to a person if:

the benefit is likely to induce the person or an associate to:

accept an offer under the bid; or

dispose of securities in the bid class; and

the benefit is not offered to all holders of securities in the bid class under the bid.

An offence based on subsection (1) is an offence of strict liability.

For strict liability, see section 6.1 of the Criminal Code.

For the purpose of this section, a person does not receive a benefit that is not offered under a takeover bid merely because the person sells bid class securities on‑market and the takeover bid is an off‑market bid or a conditional bid.

This section does not prohibit:

the variation of a takeover offer as provided by sections 649A to 650D; or

an acquisition of securities through an on‑market transaction; or

simultaneous takeover bids for different classes of securities in the target.