Rubicon to launch new buyback plan

Forestry and biotech investor Rubicon said today it planned to buy back another 5 per cent of its shares.

The announcement follows Rubicon buying back 4.9 per cent of its shares under a buyback programme announced at its annual general meeting in November.

Rubicon said it had spent about $12 million buying 14 million Rubicon shares at an average price of less than 89c per share.

"Given this success, the board has decided that upon completion of the current programme it will undertake a further on-market buyback of up to an additional 5 per cent of its shares," the company said in a statement.

The company said it would send out documentation detailing the new buyback plan shortly.

On-market buying under the new plan cannot start until February 14.

The original buyback plan was launched following a share price dip after corporate raider Guinness Peat Group sold its 20 per cent stake in Rubicon in September.

GPG sold its stake via an institutional bookbuild at $1.03 per share -- an 8 per cent discount to Rubicon's September 16 closing price of $1.12.

Rubicon is currently trading at 91c, having ranged between 85c and $1.15 over the past year.

- NZPA