Former Carter Holt executives sell up

Former Carter Holt chief executive Chris Liddell and his wife Bridget Wickham - also a former Carter Holt executive - have accompanied International Paper's departure from the New Zealand company's share register.

Liddell, now chief financial officer at Microsoft, and Wickham sold almost $280,000 worth of shares.

But the duo did not accept Graeme Hart's $2.50 a share offer. Instead, they sold onto the open market at $2.51. Their shares were most likely acquired by some of the many investors who back Hart's view that there is still money to be made in Carter Holt when the company is restructured.

Meanwhile, John Faraci told the Business Herald yesterday he would also be selling his shares.

"It would be inconsistent for me not to do that."

Faraci said even though the independent directors argued for a higher valuation, International Paper believed it had achieved good value. "The independent directors had made certain assumptions about the direction of the business that were perhaps different to the assumptions International Paper had made.

"We thought $2.50 was an acceptable premium to the stock price before the process started. It was an acceptable price given our expectations on the future."

Before International Paper revealed it was selling, the shares had traded between $1.73 and $2.30 for almost a year.

Faraci said he had not read corporate advisers Grant Samuel's independent appraisal report of Rank's offer.

Hart's offer for Carter Holt opened on September 14 and is scheduled to close on October 13.