RAINBOW SAYS BRIERLEY UPSETTING PROGRESSIVE MERGER

  &lt;Rainbow Corp Ltd> said &lt;Brierley
  Investments Ltd> (BIL) is trying to disrupt Rainbow's planned
  merger with &lt;Progressive Enterprises Ltd>.
      Rainbow chairman Allan Hawkins said in a statement, "In our
  opinion BIL have deliberately tried to create anomalies in the
  market prices of Rainbow and Progressive shares since the
  merger was announced."
      The merger, announced in February, involves the formation
  of a new company, &lt;Astral Pacific Corp Ltd>, which Rainbow and
  Progressive shareholders will enter into on a one-for-one share
  basis. Both boards have approved the merger.
      BIL has said it was the mystery bidder behind a recent
  stand in the market for three mln Progressive shares.
      "We simply regard Progressive Enterprises shares to be worth
  approximately twice as much as Rainbow shares and do not think
  the merger, as proposed, is soundly based," BIL chief executive
  Paul Collins said in an interview in the weekly National
  Business Review newspaper published today.
      Collins was not immediately available to respond directly
  to Hawkins' statement.
      Hawkins said the merger has been assessed by independent
  consultants and declared fair in all respects, with benefits to
  all shareholders.
      "We are not going to stand by while other parties distort
  the picture for their own strategic purposes and distract the
  market away from the real benefits of the merger," he said.
      "In our opinion, BIL's actions are clearly not designed to
  be in the long term interests of either Progressive or Rainbow
  shareholders," Hawkins said.
  

