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MELBOURNE - New Zealand billionaire Graeme Hart will sell his entire 19.9 per cent stake in Australasian food group Goodman Fielder Ltd, a company spokesman said, in a deal which could be worth about A$588 million ($707 million).
Goodman Fielder's Australian shares were placed on trading halt late on Thursday pending an announcement in relation to its ordinary shares. Share trading was also halted in New Zealand.
"The trading halt was requested by the company on the advice that Graeme Hart... was in the process of or intended to sell down his shareholding of the company, which amounts to some 20 per cent of the stock," a spokesman said.
Sale manager Credit Suisse has fully underwritten the sale to institutional investors at A$2.12 per share, a 5 per cent discount to its last traded price, a source said.
The Australian Financial Review newspaper said institutions have been asked to bid at between a floor price of A$2.12 per share and Thursday's closing price of A$2.23.
Mr Hart's holding in Goodman Fielder had been in escrow for almost two years after Goodman Fielder was refloated on the Stock Exchange in 2005, but the restriction was lifted in August.
Mr Hart has been aggressively building up assets in the packaging sector and analysts say he may be planning more acquisitions, the Australian Financial Review newspaper said.
- REUTERS
