KEY POINTS:
Forestry and biotechnology investor Rubicon's senior managers are swapping salary for shares.
Chairman Stephen Kasnet told shareholders at Rubicon's annual meeting yesterday that the board and management were very confident of the "considerable value-upside" in the company's share price.
He understood the March equity plan was "unique in New Zealand".
Luke Moriarty, Mark Taylor and Bruce Burton took up the plan, forgoing their base salaries for two years in return for the equivalent in shares.
The shares have been issued at 93c, 1c higher than they closed at yesterday. The plan also required them to buy a total of $450,000 worth of shares on-market.
That puts about 2.7 per cent of the company in directors' and management hands.
Kasnet said shareholders should see the step as "a sign of commitment and belief that board and management have in the future of Rubicon".
Retail investors, who number about 9000, still hold about 20 per cent.
Key assets over the next 18-24 months included Tenon, Rubicon's speciality timber concern, and international biotech company ArborGen.
Tenon's share price has crumbled from a high of $3.18 in November last year to $1.50 yesterday.
- NZPA
