Region. NZ bid for Crane Group

New Zealand building products supplier, Fletcher Building has made an unsolicited takeover bid of $740 million for the Crane Group, which has facilities in Western Sydney Fletcher had indicated its interest in Crane earlier this year but had been rebuffed before launching yesterday's surprise offer. Crane has appointed UBS and Blake Dawson as its advisers and released a statement saying its board ''will meet as soon as possible to consider the offer'' and advised shareholders to ''take no action''. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals, including those of the Foreign Investment Review Board and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.