Broker eyes second 'shell'

Brett Wilkinson

Auckland stockbroker Brett Wilkinson has his sights set on a second listed shell company.

He has bought an option to buy 352,824 shares at 5c each - or a 19.9 per cent stake - in group investment fund Nuhaka on or before July 8.

Its exercise is conditional upon the Nuhaka Farm Forestry Fund making the final distribution of the fund to unitholders.

In October, Nuhaka's unitholders approved the $7.16 million sale of its forestry right to GMO Renewable Resources and agreed to wind up and distribute the fund.

Nuhaka was formed in 1974 as a long-term investment in the Nuhaka Forest, south of Gisborne. The forest is due to be fully harvested by June 2012, when the land will revert to Juken Nissho.

Last month, Wilkinson spent $30,000 of his own money baling out former retail services group RetailX.

The Direct Broking investment adviser bought 600,000 shares at 5c apiece giving him a 19 per cent stake in the company which got into trouble after it lost the contracts to manage the Stirling Sports and Building Depot chains.

He has not disclosed plans for either shell.