Trans Tasman holder creeps to 60%

Nick Stride

Friday 30th January 2004

A post-Christmas lift in Sea Holdings' stake in Trans Tasman Properties is fuelling speculation a takeover bid is on the launch pad.

Hong Kong-based Sea, which had a 55.2% holding at the time of the last TTP annual report, lifted its stake to 58.1% on October 17 and revealed on New Year's Eve it had 59.9%.

Under the Takeovers Code's "creep" provisions a major holder is entitled to lift its stake by 5% a year without making a general offer to the other shareholders.

Guinness Peat Group, a perennial thorn in TTP's side, sold its 2.9% stake just before Christmas. Questions were raised about Sea's intentions at last October's annual meeting.

Chairman Don Fletcher said shareholders should ask Sea an exercise not made easy by the Sea directors on TTP's board never showing up to meetings.

Sea has been on TTP's register since 1995 when it was created through the merger of Robt Jones Investments and Seabil NZ, a joint venture between Sea and Brierley Investments.

But it used the creep provisions for the first time only last year.

Also generating talk about Sea's intentions has been a sharp improvement in TTP's fortunes after many years of feeble performance.

The company whittled down steadily its once-mountainous debt by selling off lower-quality properties.

In the June half-year it booked a $7.2 million profit and analysts have forecast a full-year operating profit of about $20 million.

This will be boosted by a one-off gain of $30 million from last year's takeover of Australian Growth Properties, which furnished some $265 million of cash.

The company is using it to redeem $27.4 million nominal of the $41.4 million of bonds it has on issue.

It is also considering paying a dividend for the first time in many years.

This would be well-received by minority shareholders and for that reason would not be popular at Sea if a takeover offer is planned.

Comments from our readers

No comments yet