NZ Finance gains 75 per cent of Mike Pero

New Zealand Finance (NZF) Holdings has ended up with a 74.7 per cent stake in Mike Pero Mortgages (MPM) following its $1.05 per share takeover offer which closed last night.

NZF gained acceptance for 19.59 per cent of MPM's shares through the offer, bringing its total stake to just under 75 per cent.

A spokesman for NZF said the company would now seek "appropriate board representation".

NZF has been building its stake in MPM since November last year when it bought a 54 per cent holding in MPM from Gould Holdings for 82c per share. NZF then launched a full takeover offer through which it gained just one more per cent of the company.

NZF launched a second bid on January 31, but in early February Australian lender Liberty Holdings nabbed a 10.1 per cent blocking stake, which it recently increased to 19.9 per cent through a stand in the market.

Shares in Mike Pero were unchanged at $1.03 in morning trading, having ranged between 55c and $1.07 over the past 12 months.

NZPA