Two parties eye up CDL

Two parties have looked at property investor CDL Investments' books as a precursor to a takeover, the company has revealed.

John Lindsay, a director of CDL and its wholly owned subsidiary CDL Land NZ, said rising interest in property had led the two parties to investigate opportunities last year.

The debt-free company, whose shares are trading around 37c, had $64 million worth of property which included 240ha of undeveloped land.

"Competitors investigated the option of a takeover," Lindsay said. "We have quite a portfolio of land."

The business' untapped potential made it attractive as a target.

Directors had not been told of any further investigations as part of a takeover offer.

Lindsay, who is also the manager of CDL Land, said he had been with the company for about a decade and, in that time, many parties had investigated taking over the company.

For a takeover offer to succeed, a predator would have to negotiate with majority owner and separately listed company CDL Hotels.

The listed hotel company owned 62 per cent of CDL Investments, Lindsay said, adding that 20 shareholders controlled 80 per cent of the property investment business.

Shareholder Bruce Sheppard blanched at the idea of a takeover.

"It would be a pretty hard thing for someone to pull off," he said, citing CDL Hotel's majority interest.