Baycorp director ditches shares, report says

One of Baycorp Advantage's directors has sold his entire stake in the company, Australian media reported today.

The Australian newspaper says non-executive director Gavin Walker has dumped what is believed to be his entire stake in the company -- a move that has surprised management of the Australasian debt collection and credit references group.

Mr Walker, who has been a director of Baycorp since 2000 and is also on the boards of brewer Lion Nathan and AMP New Zealand, sold more than 200,000 Baycorp Advantage shares held in private trusts in separate on-market trades yesterday and Friday, the newspaper reported.

The sale is reported to have netted him more than A$732,000 ($799,563).

The dual-listed Baycorp Advantage was trading steady at $3.45 on the local bourse today.

Mr Walker, who heads the board's audit risk committee, could not be contacted for comment.

Baycorp managing director Andrew Want told The Australian he was surprised at the move, but didn't believe it would signal the end to Mr Walker's board position.

"We are extremely confident that Gavin remains confident in the future of Baycorp," he told the paper.

"Nothing has changed in his involvement in the company going forward. Gavin remains the head of the Audit Risk Committee."

The move comes at a tough time for Baycorp as it emerges from defeating a hostile takeover by Allco Equity Partners.

Baycorp spent nearly A$5 million to fend off the A$837 million bid, which was finally defeated in September despite a higher offer from Allco.

The former predator turned major shareholder, with a 17 per cent stake, is now eligible for a seat on the Baycorp board.

Although the takeover failed, the bid succeeded in shaking up the struggling company, which has not performed well since the iconic New Zealand company merged with Australia's Advantage in 2001.

Allco had sought to replace five directors, but pulled out of the separate motions at last month's annual general meeting in which Baycorp reaffirmed a full-year earnings forecast before interest and tax of A$58.6 million.

Mr Walker was not one of the five directors it had sought to remove.

- NZPA