The Supreme Court of Victoria approved the scheme of arrangement to demerge Treasury Wine Estates from Foster’s Group Limited on 4 May 2011 and Treasury Wine Estates Limited commenced trading on the Australian Securities Exchange on 10 May 2011.
Australian Resident Capital Gains Cost Base
As indicated in Section 9 of the Demerger Booklet, where demerger tax relief is available, the cost base of the Foster’s Shares held by Australian resident Foster’s Shareholders will be allocated between their Foster’s Shares and their Treasury Wine Estates Shares. The allocation will be based on the market values (or a reasonable approximation thereof) of the Foster’s Shares and the Treasury Wines Estates Shares just after the Demerger.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has issued a class ruling in relation to the demerger, a copy of which is available below. The ATO is expected to issue a fact sheet confirming the tax consequences of the demerger for Australian resident shareholders, and TWE will include a copy of the fact sheet on its website after publication by the ATO.
Foster’s has notified Australian resident shareholders in writing of the tax consequences, a copy of which is available below.