By NZPA
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Thursday 9th January 2003 |
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Lowe Corporation boss Graeme Lowe lodged a substantial security holder notice with the Stock Exchange this afternoon, declaring an 8.01 percent stake in the Hawke's Bay meat processor that PPCS wants to take over.
Mr Lowe now controls 3.278 million Richmond shares, which amounts to 9.96 percent of the voting capital when the 6.86 million shares the High Court ordered PPCS must forfeit are excluded.
Most of the stake is held in the name of Waiau Investments and most was bought from late December until today at between $2.45 and $3.05 a share, the notice shows.
Brokers ABN Amro Craig of Auckland bought the shares on and off market on his behalf.
Asked if he wanted the stake to protect his supply of by-products from Richmond, Mr Lowe said: "That's one of the reasons, yes."
When pressed about whether his contract with Richmond was not hard and fast, he said: "We just want to be sure, that's all."
Mr Lowe would not say whether he would sell the stake if Lowe Corporation got a supply deal with PPCS.
"We haven't decided where we stand yet. We're just investing money, that's all."
PPCS's offer statement to the Stock Exchange says the 6.86 million forfeited shares are not counted in determining the bid's 90 percent acceptance threshold for PPCS to compulsorily buy the remaining shares.
The total number of shares considered in determining 90 percent acceptance was 34.117 million, though there were 40.98 million ordinary shares on issue.
Another key shareholder, Roderick Pearce, the more than 90 percent owner of Waitotara Holdings, which holds 8.67 percent of the voting shares in Richmond, said it was too early to comment on PPCS's $3.05 a share offer.
There was market speculation today that he might have sold some shares to Mr Lowe.
But Mr Pearce said: "At this stage I've not sold any shares at all to anyone. I've not sold any shares for three years.
"The (offer) price doesn't surprise me. Richmond has been a company that has been seriously undervalued," he said.
Asked if he would be a seller, Mr Pearce said he was still weighing it up. He was not prepared to say until he had had discussions with other directors and shareholders.
Mr Pearce is a director of Richmond. He sold the Waitotara meat processing business to Richmond three years ago and was paid partly with shares in the company.
Mr Pearce would not say whether he thought the offer would succeed.
"You never know what people will do until they are confronted with cash."
Other key shareholders include farmer suppliers, who collectively hold about 9.5 percent of voting shares, and staff who hold about six percent.
Farmer James Aitken, who led the former Richold group of shareholders that was set up to block PPCS's getting 100 percent of Richmond, said the offer was unlikely to succeed. A lot of shareholders would not want to sell to PPCS.
"I'm not prepared to sell my shares at $3.05 to PPCS," he said.
If the offer came from another company, he might feel more inclined to sell.
"A lot of shareholders feel that way," Mr Aitken said.
He said about 1700 of the 2000-odd shareholders in Richmond were farmer-supplier and employees.
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