Rangatira boss Ian Frame to retire in June

Wednesday 5th March 2014

Rangatira chief executive Ian Frame will step from the top job of the Wellington-based investment firm at the end of June.

Frame will finish his 11-year tenure in charge of Rangatira on June 30, growing the firm's assets to $187 million from $102 million when he started, and overseeing $70 million in dividends being paid to shareholders, chairman David Pilkington said in a statement.

The board has started looking for a replacement.

Rangatira has been on a buying spree in recent years, purchasing Rainbow's End amusement park operator New Zealand Experience in 2012, and taking stakes in local beer maker Tuatara Brewing, magnetic resonance imaging and nuclear magnetic resonance device manufacturer Magritek, medical and insurance service provider Konnect Net and cloud-based accounting software maker Xero.

In January, meat producer Hellers, of which Rangatira owns half, bought Goodman Fielder's New Zealand meats business.

Last year, the company said it planned to embark on a share buyback in early 2014, with the directors "concerned at the considerable discount in prices bid compared with our assessed asset backing and the low liquidity in Rangatira shares."

Rangatira has two classes of shares that trade on the Unlisted platform, with 67 percent held as class 'A' shares and 33 percent held in class 'B' shares to differentiate between charitable and non-charitable shareholders. Both classes last traded at $8.50.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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