Emerald sells down NZE stake

Venture capital firm Emerald Capital has reduced its stake in theme park operator New Zealand Experience (NZE).

The sell down of a little over 2 million shares, for an undisclosed sum, follows plans by the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX) to relegate the seldom-traded stock from its main board to the NZAX alternative exchange.

Emerald has entered agreements to reduce its holding from 80 per cent to 74.3 per cent to satisfy NZX's shareholder spread requirements.

Around 600,000 of those shares were sold to NZE directors Anthony Frankham and Craig Barnes.

NZX "free float" rules require 25 per cent of the shares to be owned by members of the public.

The exchange granted a waiver in this case to include Mr Frankham and Mr Barnes under the "members of the public" definition. The pair are independent directors and are not seen to be under the influence of majority shareholder Emerald.

They will each own 400,000 shares, or around one per cent of the company following the transaction.

NZE runs Rainbow's End in Auckland. It reported a net profit of $776,000 for the year to June 30, down 7 per cent on the previous year.

Shares in NZE last traded at 30c on September 22. They have ranged between 25c and 45c in the last year.

- NZPA