Fletcher Building lifts Crane bid

Fletcher Building chief executive Jonathan Ling Photo / Dean Purcell

Fletcher Building, New Zealand's biggest listed company, has lifted the cash component of its takeover bid for Australia's Crane Group, though the overall price of A$9.35 a share is still the same.

The Auckland-based construction company lifted its cash offer by 4 Australian cents a share to A$3.47, according to a replacement bidder's statement lodged with both the NZX and ASX.

Combined with one Fletcher share, that keeps the offer at A$9.35 apiece, valuing Crane at A$740 million, though that's still below the market price of A$9.36.

The Fletcher share price fell immediately after the bid. The offer opens on Wednesday, and will close on February 25 unless Fletcher extends it.

Crane's board rejected the bid as originally structured, deeming it to be an inadequate and opportunistic offer at the bottom of the industry cycle.

Fletcher has already acquired 13 per cent of Crane from institutional investors at the offer price, and plans to operate Crane as a separate division. If the offer is successful, Crane shareholders will own about 10 per cent of Fletcher.

Shares in Fletcher were unchanged at $7.78 on the NZX and rose 0.5 per cent to A$5.93 on the ASX. Crane's share gained 0.3 per cent.

The shares traded as high as $8.66 in the weeks following last September's Canterbury earthquake.