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Remember Yowie chocolate? The Aussie bush critter themed childrens’-toy-in-a-choccy competitor to Kinder Surprise? Did you know they’re still making them, and that Yowie Group (ASX:YOW) is actually listed on the ASX?
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This finance journalist still remembers the day he figured that out, and if its liquidity at the time was anything to go by, he wasn’t alone.
But in 2019 at least, Yowie was the talk of the town (for some), seeing as controversial figure Nick Bolton’s Keybridge Capital made a move on Yowie. That was six years ago, and the world has changed a lot since then.
HotCopper readers in 2025 would also be relatively further forgiven, seeing as shares have been suspended for some time now.
That suspension could be in part informed by an ongoing dispute among the major shareholders of YOW, which includes Wilson Asset Management (WAM) and another entity called HHY Fund, which controls 10.06% of Yowie’s ordinary shares.
But it’s Keybridge Capital Limited (ASX:KBC) that has gone to the Takeovers Panel to complain about HHY’s conduct as a Yowie shareholder.
In an application released Wednesday, Keybridge has alleged to the Takeovers Panel that “without notice of a capital raising and prior to it receiving access to the HHY members’ register, [HHY] issued 42% new HHY units, including to Yowie directors and their associated entities, significantly diluting … voting power.”
It may be amusing to some to see Bolton’s Keybridge itself complaining of corporate shenanigans, given that’s what Bolton was once hated for (by some) in Australia’s finance ecosystem.
Keybridge further complained to Takeovers that the dilution of HHY unitholders – “for the improper purpose of preventing a change of responsible entity” – reduced Keybridge’s voting power ahead of a key meeting.
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It’s all quite technical, and admittedly dry: The big story is that Yowie Group now appears it may be investigated by the Takeovers Panel, suggesting shares will stay in suspension for a good while yet.
That is, of course, if you don’t consider the fact that Yowie is on the ASX at all to be the bigger story.
YOW last traded at 1.4cps; shares are suspended.
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