Kiwis keen to take tech punt

By ROB O'NEILL

World tech-stock turmoil has apparently not deterred local investors from punting on the sector.

E-business incubator eVentures will close its public share offering three days early on Monday following strong demand.

The float, which aimed to raise $30 million through the issue of 50 million shares at 60 cents each, will close heavily oversubscribed, the company said yesterday. The issue will close at 4pm.

Applicants who have received a firm allocation from members of the New Zealand Stock Exchange will be unaffected by the early closing. Other subscriptions will be subject to scaling with refunds payable within five business days of the allotment. The offer, which opened on April 17, was to have closed on Thursday with allotment of shares taking place on Friday. The expected date of quotation on the stock exchange was May 9.

Chairman Craig Heatley was not prepared to disclose how much eVentures' recent advertising campaign cost, but said it was "pretty modest."