Institutions snap up Rural Portfolio's PGG Wrightson shares
Institutional investors have gobbled up a large chunk of 46.8 million PGG Wrightson shares after receivers of Craig Norgate's Rural Portfolio Investments moved quickly to liquidate assets.
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Institutional investors have gobbled up a large chunk of 46.8 million PGG Wrightson shares after receivers of Craig Norgate’s Rural Portfolio Investments moved quickly to liquidate assets.
PGG Wrightson shares rose 2c (3.8%) as the shares came on market this morning.
NBR understands Craigs Investment Partners allocated the stock to institutional investors, retail investors and Rural Portfolio preference shareholders, who were given an allocation priority.
It is not clear how many RPI investors purchased the underlying PGG Wrightson shares but sources say institutions ended up with roughly 60% of the stock.
The sale represents a big loss for preference shareholders in RPI’s financing arm Rural Portfolio Capital who are owed more than $60 million.
The two companies were placed in receivership after Rural Portfolio said it had breached its trust deed obligations by not having $1.45 million to deposit in its dividend escrow account, as required for its redeemable preference shares.
Last week Kerryn Downey and Andrew Grenfell from McGrathNicol took control of 46.8 million PGG Wrightson shares, 10 million NZ Farming Systems Uruguay and $742,314 in its dividend escrow account.
At today’s price the PGG Wrightson shares held by RPI were worth about $24.3 million.
McGrath Nicol said they carefully examined with Trustees Executors the available options in realising the investments.
For a "variety of reasons" the receivers were unable to pursue an asset distribution to the former preference shareholders.
The receivers determined that a market sale was in the best interests of all secured creditors.
McGrath Nicol is evaluating sale options with respect to the shares in NZ Farming Systems Uruguay.
Duncan Bridgeman
Tue, 11 May 2010
Tue, 11 May 2010
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Institutions snap up Rural Portfolio's PGG Wrightson shares
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