Marlin Global shareholder lobbies for delisting, pans returns

Tuesday 7th July 2009

A shareholder of Marlin Global Ltd., the investor in overseas shares managed by Fisher Funds Management, is lobbying for the company to be delisted and transformed into an open-ended fund as a way to lift the value of its units.

Gary Cross placed newspaper advertisements promoting his idea to convert Marlin’s publicly traded shares into units which would change hands at their net asset value. Marlin’s shares rose 2.7% to 77 cents today, below the NAV of 98.3 cents. The stock has consistently traded at a discount to NAV since its October 2007 IPO.

Marlin’s directors and Fisher Funds “share Mr Cross’ frustration at the level and persistence of the share price discount to the NAV,” according to a statement from the company.

Still, “Marlin is not unique – as a result of the global financial crisis, many listed investment companies, property companies and operating companies are trading below valuation and below historical averages,” the company said.

Shareholders of Marlin had chosen to invest in a listed investment company rather than an open-ended fund and the company said it doubted Cross’s views were representative of the majority.

Businesswire.co.nz

Comments from our readers

No comments yet