Viking Capital lists on NZ sharemarket alternative board

Investment company Viking Capital listed on the New Zealand sharemarket's alternative board at 11am today with its 25c shares starting at 26c and then rising to 28c.

The company offered 60 million shares, worth $15 million, in an initial public offering that opened on June 5.

Today chairman and managing director Brent King said more than $12.4 million had been raised at the end of the offer period, with Viking having said in its prospectus that it wanted to raise a minimum of about $8 million.

Former principal and managing director of listed Dorchester Pacific, Mr King bought 20 million Viking shares out of a total of 49.6 million -- giving him about 40.3 per cent of the company.

They were paid for by listed shares at an agreed price of $4.46 million and $543,000 in cash.

Mr King said the largest block was acquired with Dorchester Pacific shares and the second largest block in vodka company 42 Below shares.

He had sold the shares in at a 5 per cent discount, effectively paying the full listing costs for Viking.

Directors Grant Baker, chairman of 42 Below, had 6.67 million shares, and former finance minister Sir William Birch about a million shares.

Mr King said he was not disappointed that some of the shares on offer were not taken up.

"We are so substantially over our minimum," he said.

Many more individuals than expected had supported the concept, with Viking having about 300 shareholders.

Institutional investors had said they understood the idea but the hard data was insufficient for them to take Viking to an investment committee, and they had to wait for the company to start to do some things.

"This allows us to then go and prove ourselves a little bit and then go back to those people," he said.

"We would expect to see some institutional support as we start to develop the business.

"We do not have any transactions as of today, so it's very hard for a major institutional investor to come in on that basis."

A decision had yet to be made on what Viking's first investment would be.

Viking's directors believed the reshaping of the New Zealand economy in the next five years presented "great opportunity for astute investment strategies executed well".

- NZPA