Vertex valued at between $2.14 and $2.39

Shares in plastics firm Vertex rose today after an independent valuation put the shares' value at "materially above" the $1.90 a unit takeover offer currently on the table.

Vertex shareholders are being offered $1.90 a share by 19.9 per cent shareholder Masthead Equities, but valuation firm Grant Samuel said today the shares were worth between $2.14 and $2.39 each.

At 12.30pm, Vertex shares were up 6c at $1.96, having ranged between $1.38 and $1.95 in the past year. The shares had been on a trading halt until 10am today.

A full copy of the Grant Samuel report was unlikely to be available today, but would be released shortly, Vertex said in a statement to NZX.

Vertex's independent directors restated their advice that shareholders should "take no action" in respect of the Masthead offer, at least until they had seen the Grant Samuel report and a target company statement had been reviewed.

Masthead bought its stake in Vertex last year for $2.05 a share and now wants to buy the rest of the company with the view to merging it with rival Alto Plastics, of which it owns 40 per cent.

On Wednesday last week, Vertex called off its court action to challenge the validity of directors with links to Masthead. The court action was also to sort out potential conflicts of interest within the Vertex board.

- NZPA