[UPDATE: PGG Wrightson, along with majority shareholder Pyne Gould Corp and Rural Portfolio Capital have been put on a trading halt this morning. A media briefing is to take place at midday.]

PGG Wrightson (NZX: PGW) will announce its capital raising plan today, investment banking sources told NBR last night.

At the annual meeting last month the company had said an announcement would be in early November.

The company is tied to a new banking facility that requires payment of $200 million by March next year after the balance sheet was torn apart by writedowns relating to Silver Fern Farms and its investment in subsidiary company NZ Farming Systems Uruguay.

The shares – worth nearly $3 a year ago – closed last night at 69c.

Market expectations are that the company needs to raise anywhere between $120 million and $150 million as well as the $36 million from a 13% share sale to Chinese company Agria.

The structure of the capital raising could include a discounted rights issue, share purchase plan and a delayed performance fee from New Zealand Farming Systems Uruguay.

A boardroom clean out is expected to follow the capital raising.

Pyne Gould Corporation shares have also been placed in a trading halt this
morning, pending PGW’s announcement.

PGC – which holds more than a fifth of PGW shares – has never confirmed it
would take part in any capital raising, sticking to the line that it would
wait until the details were announced before making any final decision.