VINZ reiterates don’t sell notice ahead of independent report

Friday 18th January 2013

Vehicle Inspection New Zealand (VINZ) is reiterating its don't sell notice to shareholders, saying an offer from Jevic New Zealand is opportunistic.

Jevic, a company that pre-vets imported used vehicles, has offered to buy all the shares of VINZ at $1.65 each, valuing the target at $4.1 million.

VINZ chairman Ken Worsley said a report from an independent adviser and the board's response to the offer were being reviewed by the Takeovers Panel.

"Once the Takeovers Panel has vetted these vital documents, we will dispatch them to shareholders," he said.

This has to be done by January 23.

Worsley said VINZ had significant cash reserves that alone valued the company at $1.27 a share.

"It is the view of this board that the current Jevic offer is opportunistic in that it takes advantage of perceived uncertainty caused by the current vehicle licensing review process," he said.

The offer represents a 10 percent premium to VINZ's last trading price of $1.50.

Prior to the offer Jevic and associated parties had already acquired about 18.5 percent of the company.

The government is reviewing the whole system of annual vehicle registrations, WOFs, COFs and transport service licensing with a view to lifting efficiency while cutting costs.

That could have a detrimental impact on VINZ's business. One option is to extend frequency periods for warrants and other services, which VINZ said in its annual report in August would reduce the market size, prompting the company to put any expansion plans on hold.

The Jevic group is the country's largest biosecurity vehicle inspectorate with about 85 percent of that market.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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