Hansen Technologies Limited (Hansen) announces that discussions with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) over the taxation treatment of a proposed Cash Return to shareholders have now been positively concluded. As a consequence Hansen has called for a General Meeting of shareholders on 11 June 2008 for the purpose of passing a resolution for a $0.02 per share payment to shareholders which will be deemed as a Return of Capital in the hands of Australian Resident shareholders.
The return of capital of $0.02 per fully paid ordinary share in the Company will represent a return to shareholders of a total of approximately $3,051,188.
At the Annual General Meeting of the Company held in November 2007 shareholders passed a conditional resolution for the processing of a $0.03 per share Capital Return subject to the Company receiving confirmation from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) that such a return would be treated as a Capital Return for taxation purposes. Unfortunately the ATO did not support the tax treatment of this proposal and this conditional resolution was subsequently cancelled.
Since then dialogue with the ATO has been ongoing with the objective of obtaining its support of a revised capital return to Shareholders. In response to an amended submission by the Company, the ATO have now issued a Final Ruling which has the effect of confirming that a payment of $0.02 per fully paid ordinary share could be made by the Company and deemed as a return of capital for Australian taxation purposes on the condition that the payment was completed by 30 June 2008.
Given the passage of time since the November 2007 resolution and the change in value from $0.03 to $0.02, we are required again to seek shareholder approval for the processing of this capital return.
The Notice of General Meeting and Proxy Form will be despatched to shareholders on 9 May 2008. If the resolution is passed at the General Meeting the record date for determining entitlement to the capital return will be 20 June 2008 and payment will be distributed on 27 June 2008.