15 Nov 2013

Pyne Gould buyback unlikely to increase

1:18 pm on 15 November 2013

The minority shareholders in Pyne Gould are not likely to receive a takeover offer from the major shareholder ahead of the company de-listing in New Zealand.

The company plans to move its head office to the tax haven of Guernsey and to list on the London Stock Exchange.

Its major shareholder, which is controlled by South Island businessman George Kerr and associates and holds 76.3% of the company, intends to vote in favour of the move. That means it does not matter what minority shareholders think of the move.

Pyne Gould is planning to buy back up to 5% of its shares in the year ending 19 November 2014 and has said it will consider increasing the size of the buyback.

Chairman Bryan Mogridge says the possibility of a takeover offer is not a matter for him as the company's chairman and he cast cold water on the idea of increasing the size of the buyback.

"There's been no offer made, nothing that I understand is contemplated and the simple fact is that we're making a good investment if we manage to buy some shares for less than their tangible asset value," he says.

Mr Mogridge says given the small amount of trading that occurs in Pyne Gould shares, he does not expect the company will be able to buy a lot of shares.