EQUITICORP TASMAN TO BID FOR MONIER LTD <Equiticorp Tasman Ltd> (ETL) said it will offer 4.15 dlrs a share cash for all the issued capital of Monier Ltd <MNRA.S>, currently the subject of a 3.80 dlrs a share bid by CSR Ltd <CSRA.S>. Alternatively, ETL will offer three shares plus 82 cents cash for each Monier share, it said in a statement. As previously reported, ETL moved into the market for Monier shares last week, taking its stake to 13.7 pct by Friday. It now holds 14.99 pct, the maximum allowed without Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) approval. ETL is classified as foreign because of its New Zealand base. The ETL cash offer values Monier's issued capital of 156.28 mln shares at 649 mln dlrs, against 593 mln for the CSR bid. Based on the current price of ETL shares of 1.05 dlrs, the alternative is worth 3.97 dlrs per share, but ETL said the value placed on its shares for the offer aproximates to the diluted asset backing of ETL as at March 31. ETL said the offer will have no minimum acceptance conditions and will be subject to Australian foreign investment and U.S. Hart-Scott-Rodino anti-trust clearances. ETL chairman Allan Hawkins said in the statement that the shareholding in Monier was a long term investment. ETL and its <Feltex International Ltd> associate have targetted the building products sector as an area of expansion and Monier fits well with this aim, he added. Monier chairman Bill Locke said in a separate statement that the independent directors of Monier intend to recommend acceptance of the ETL bid in the absence of a higher bid. He also said Monier will not now proceed with the one-for-two bonus issue announced with its interim results on March 19 in view of the proposed takeover bids. As previously reported, the CSR offer involves a complex put and call option deal with Monier's major shareholder, Redland Plc <RDLD.L>, which gives Redland the choice of accepting the CSR offer for its 49.8 pct stake or moving to 50.1 pct within six months of the bid closing. CSR officials have made it clear that they see Redland taking the second option, resulting in the two companies running Monier as a joint venture. CSR officials have also said they had no intention of raising the company's bid for Monier after ETL's intervention became public last week.