Shareholders voted 67 per cent in favour of the $1.54 billion takeover, not quite reaching the threshold of 75 per cent, even though the Pushpay board backed the proposal.
Pushpay and the consortium now have until Tuesday to call another shareholder meeting or else the scheme of arrangement can be terminated by either party.
Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said Pushpay has reached the stage where there is no deal or it will receive an improved offer.
“To be honest, the whole process has been a dog’s breakfast. The governance approach and engagement has not been up to the standard expected of such a reasonably sized company,” he said.
“There is now uncertainty and the potential for ongoing share price volatility. Pushpay has been on a roller-coaster ride for investors for a long time.”
Solly said the local market tracked sideways as people digested the busy results season, the Ryman Healthcare capital raise and an increase in government bond yields.
“The actual financial results were okay but the consensus earnings forecasts have been trimmed. There are more downgrades than upgrades. And markets are still wary about inflation and the need to keep interest rates higher for a longer period,” he said.
The US 10 Year Treasury Note yield jumped 11 basis points to 4.051 per cent and the New Zealand equivalent was up 8.3 basis points to 4.711 per cent.
Solly said it has again reached the point where investors can get a better income yield, say 4.5 per cent, out of government bond yields than the yields coming out of the sharemarket.
Heavyweights Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, down 20c to $26.05, and Mainfreight, declining 70c to $72.30, led the market down. Auckland International Airport decreased 5c to $8.65.
Retirement village operators Ryman Healthcare, raising $902m to pay off some longstanding debt, was down 6c to $5.61; Summerset Group declined 24c or 2.59 per cent to $9.01; Oceania Healthcare decreased 1c to 77c; and Arvida gained 1c or 0.98 per cent to $1.03.
In the energy sector, Contact was up 10c to $7.63; Mercury gained 1.5c to $6.495; and Meridian was down 2.5c to $5.365.
Among the property companies, Property for Industry was up 4.5c or 1.95 per cent to $2.355; and Precinct Properties was down 3c or 2.28 per cent to $1.285.
SkyCity Entertainment shed 6c or 2.41 per cent to $2.43 on ongoing regulatory concerns; Ventia Services was down 8c or 3.02 per cent to $2.57; Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund declined 7c or 2.26 per cent to $3.03; and Synlait Milk decreased 7c or 2.13 per cent to $3.21.
Michael Hill was down 2c or 1.79 per cent to $1.10; Rakon declined 2c or 2.04 per cent to 96c; Radius Residential Care decreased 1.5c or 5.08 per cent to 28c; and TradeWindow fell a further 3.5c or 8.97 per cent to 35.5c.
Ebos Group added 50c to $43.50; Vista Group climbed 10c or 7.35 per cent to $1.46; Port of Tauranga was up 8c to $6.26; Serko increased 9c or 3.88 per cent to $2.41; and NZX rose 4c or 3.39 per cent to $1.22.
The February NZX report showed a 2.6 per cent decline in total trades to 970,767 but the value traded increased 14.3 per cent to $3.458b. Total capital listed and raised was up 20.9 per cent to $1.464b.
New Zealand Rural Land Company, down 1.5c to $1.03, has raised $10.486m through its one-for-three institutional entitlement offer at $1 a share. The same retail offer opens on Monday.
Allied Farmers, unchanged at 75c, has received an $8.3m valuation for the 50 per cent of NZ Rural Land Management it doesn’t already own and is now looking at exercising its option to buy the remaining shareholding.
TruScreen, unchanged at 3.3c, has received commitments totalling $600,000 for 20m new shares at 3c each in its rights offer.
