TIL Logistics owner completes voluntary acquisition, retains some Bethunes investors

Friday 5th January 2018

TIL Logistics Group, the New Plymouth-based freight and logistics company, has retained some of the former shareholders of Bethunes Investments after completing a reverse listing transaction.

Shareholders of Bethunes, which changed its name to TIL Logistics last month, had until Jan. 3 to exercise their right to sell their shares to the dominant owner and a total of 35 shareholders with 928 shares in aggregate did so, the company said today. A spokeswoman said it was viewed as a vote of confidence that hardly any of the old Bethunes shareholders opted to sell.

The Bethunes shareholders approved the reverse listing at a special meeting on Dec. 5 after a hunt for suitable investment options having exited the auction business in 2016. The acquirer, Bowker Holdings 99, completed the transaction the following day, owning more than 90 percent of the voting rights and becoming the dominant owner.

The company was granted a waiver from NZX listing rules that require a company to have at least 25 percent of shares held by 500 members of the public to allow the transaction to proceed and the spokeswoman said it was now working through options to increase the spread of shareholders.

TIL Logistics has four divisions - freighting, tankers, warehousing and international. According to its website, the company began in 1869 as Hook Bros and in the 1990s embarked on an acquisition strategy that saw the company expand its national reach.

TIL expects to report a statutory loss of $10.3 million on revenue of $327.8 million in the year ending June 30, 2018, turning to a profit of $11.1 million on revenue of $335.5 million the following year, when it would expect to pay dividends of 7.4 cents per share, representing a gross yield of 6.8 percent.

The shares last traded at $2, valuing the company at about $163 million.

(BusinessDesk)

Comments from our readers

No comments yet