NZ stocks: Takeovers the talk of the sharemarket

Takeover talk took centre stage on the New Zealand share market today.

Speculation mounted that another bidder for wood processor Tenon is about to emerge, while Restaurant Brands was the subject of a surprise takeover offer.

Despite bobbing into postive ground for much of the day the benchmark NZSX-50 gross index ended the day down 4.09 points at 2564.73, while the NZSX-All capital index fell 1.34 points to 869.84.

Tenon was up 4c at 190 after speculation mounted that a mystery bidder was about to trump Rubicon's $1.85/share takeover bid.

The National Business Review reported today that it understood a new offer was being prepared following an independent report that labelled Rubicon's $1.85/share offer as unfair.

The paper named Norske Skog as a possible bidder but the company said it specialised in newsprint and magazine papers, not timber products.

Goldman Sachs JBWere broker Murray Rutherford said his firm had always believed there would be a contested interest in Tenon.

"The new player hasn't emerged at this stage. We are of the view that an industry player would be able to pay more than a non-industry (investment-type) company because they can enjoy synergy benefits and so on."

Meanwhile a takeover notice for Restaurant Brands was lodged with the stock exchange at 4.30pm.

The $1.50 per share bid by King Win Laurel International values Restaurant Brands, operator of the KFC, Pizza Hutt and Starbucks chains, at $144 billion.

Restaurant Brands was up 2c today at 131.

King Win is somewhat of a mystery bidder and Restaurant Brands said it had no idea who the company was.

"We have received the offer by fax and, as required, passed it on to the exchange. We've never heard of this company before, they are not on our register nor ever have been. We know nothing about them," chief financial officer Grant Ellis told NZPA.

"It's certainly a surprise bid for the stock," said James Lock of ABN Amro Craigs, who had also not heard of King Win.

"There's certainly been no rumours floating around the market at all, so that one's sort of come of left field," he said.

Another takeover target, Wrightson, fell 1c to 139 following an independent report valuing the company's shares at 161c-186c.

The independent directors urged shareholders to reject Rural Portfolio Investments' bid but some retail brokers, ABN Amro Craigs in particular, have questioned the figures in the Grant Samuel report. The brokerage is urging acceptance.

A couple of retail stocks also headed north today, after the release of retail sales stats today, which showed sales were the strongest in the March quarter for seven quarters.

The Warehouse rose 4c to 432 and Michael Hill International rose 5c to 590.

Briscoe, which last week released disappointing sales figures, bucked the retail store trend, falling 3c to 131c.

Bellwether stock Telecom, which yesterday edged off a six-month low with a 2c gain, slipped 2c today to 555.

Turnover in Telecom made up $33.3 million of the market's total turnover of $92.7 million.

Of the 149 stocks traded today there were 51 rises and 53 falls.

Other stocks on the move today included: Carter Holt Harvey up 2c at 204, Cavalier up 5c at 490, Fisher & Paykel Appliances down 6c at 440, F&P Healthcare down 12c at 1210, Hellaby up 10c at 501 and Sky Network TV down 5c at 518.

- NZPA