Mystery $31m Rubicon offer

A mystery buyer is understood to be seeking 15 per cent of Fletcher Challenge spinoff Rubicon.

An industry source said broker JBWere was last night contacting institutions with an offer of 75c a share, provided 15 per cent of the company's stock could be acquired.

The $31.4 million offer values Rubicon stock at a 13 per cent premium on yesterday's closing price of 66c.

Speculation was that the buyer wanted to benefit from a possible gain in Rubicon's share price if Fletcher Forests' deal to buy the Central North Island Forest goes through.

Rubicon's tangible asset backing, now about 89c a share, would then rise to about $1 a share.

Under the deal, Rubicon will sell its 17.6 per cent stake in Fletcher for a nominal 37c a share, comprising $48 million in cash and the 11,874ha Tahorakuri forest.

The deal values the forest at $131 million, but Fletcher chairman Sir Dryden Spring has said the last offer made for Tahorakuri was $115 million. At a more conservative forest valuation, the deal gives Rubicon about 33c a share for its 492 million Fletcher shares. Rubicon's accounts value the shares at 27c.

Rubicon has long said it wants to sell the stake, and its annual report said it "strongly believes the value of [the] FCF shareholding to be well in excess of 27c per share".