Commonwealth Bank shows hand as first foreign holder of Fonterra units

Friday 7th December 2012

Commonwealth Bank of Australia is the first overseas investors to disclose a substantial holding in units of the Fonterra Shareholders' Fund that debuted a week ago.

Funds associated with Australia's biggest lender hold 7.4 percent of the units, according to a substantial security notice yesterday. The funds bought 6.6 million units at a grand total of some A$31 million on Nov. 30, or NZ$39 million at that day's exchange rate.

Those units are now worth about NZ$47 million at yesterday's closing price for the units of $6.69 on the NZX. The units have climbed about 22 percent from the initial public offering price of $5.50.

Other foreign investors may have to disclose their holdings above 5 percent. At least 42 percent of the units were sold overseas in the IPO.

Since trading began last Friday some 13 million of the units have changed hands, according to NZX data. Trading among farmers in the closed market of the NZX has been subdued by comparison, with just 40,728 changing hands.

More than 2,500 members of what Fonterra called the 'Fonterra Family' and about 7,000 retail and institutional investors took up the units in the IPO.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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