Hart's team flat out in broker roadshow

Wherever final interest levels in the Goodman Fielder float end up, no one can accuse Graeme Hart's team of not doing its bit to drum up support.

Calling from Boston on a dark and miserable afternoon, the company's new chief executive, Peter Margin, reels off a "broker roadshow" schedule that sounds more like a tour diary for the latest Rolling Stones tour.

"We did Australia and New Zealand, then last week we did Hong Kong and Singapore. This week, we've done San Diego, San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto, Boston and we head to New York tonight."

Next week, the team - which includes Margin, Burns Philp managing director Tom Degnan and Goodman chief financial officer Andrew Beck - heads to London and Edinburgh.

Margin said they had met one-on-one with investment banks, fund managers and analysts in each city.

"Clearly they like to get an appreciation of who the management are and what our aspirations are for the business."

So how has the response been?

"Asia: exceptional. In the US, it's still early days so you'd have to leave it another week to see what the interest is," Margin said.

"I'm encouraged by what I'm seeing and hearing but then you've got to translate that into them acquiring equity."

Institutional investment out of Asia, the US and Britain would definitely make up a "cornerstone" of the shareholding in Goodman Fielder. But it was too early to talk about how much of the company would be owned by institutions.

The response so far suggested they liked the fact that the business was in a defensive sector, unlikely to be affected by any economic downturns.

They also liked the prospects for yield from dividends. They had not expressed the cynicism about the company's growth prospects that had come from some Australasian analysts.

Goodman Fielder will list on the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges on December 19.

Up to 1.06 billion shares will be issued, from A$1.85 and A$2 each.