Warning to shareholders over giving away NZ companies ‘ too cheaply’

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Shareholders are being warned to be mindful of low-ball offers amid offshore interest for listed New Zealand companies.

Semiconductor maker Rakon was the latest to get a surprise offer, with the company assessing the bid because of shareholder pressure.

But so far this year bids have been made and rejected for ERoad, Sky TV and Metroglass.

Church donations tech company Pushpay was taken over, but it took a shareholder revolt to get a higher price.

Craigs Investment Partners investment director, Mark Lister, said offshore interest could be a seen a vote of confidence in local firms, but investors should weigh up each offer carefully.

“We do need to be mindful of some of those bids coming in at a time when investor sentiment is low, when some of these companies are undervalued,” he said.

“We don’t want to give things away at the bottom of the cycle and give them away too cheaply.”

Lister said it was a “double-edged sword” as offshore interest was welcomed, but it would not be good to see companies “disappear at low prices”.

Local share market well-positioned

Lister said expectations that interest rates could fall in the new year was a good sign for the New Zealand share market, as the local market was more sensitive to rate changes due to the large number of companies in real estate and utilities.

He said the NZX has underperformed for two years, but the prospect of rate cuts could mean a change in fortunes.

“When we are at the point where OCR [Official Cash Rate] cuts are closer and on the horizon and term deposit rates start coming down, I think investors will very quickly realise that they need to make their money work a bit harder for them, [rather] than just leaving it in the bank on the sidelines.”

Lister said that could be “the catalyst” for the share market “to come into its own again”.

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