The Rumble: 2015’s IPO drought
The NBR crew throw around some of the week's top stories on NBR Radio and on-demand via MyNBR Radio.
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Did you hear? Taylor Swift is in New Zealand murdering dotterills!
This was the first topic discussed by the Rumble this week – although the conversation didn’t last long.
No, it was on to bigger and better things quite swiftly.
NBR’s Tim Hunter, Calida Smylie and Jason Walls – joined by Punakaiki fund founder Lance Wiggs – weighed in on the Fonterra debate.
This week at the co-operative’s annual general meeting, the resolution to reduce the number of members on Fonterra’s board was defeated.
The remit needed the support of 75% of shareholders to pass but fell short at 54%.
But at more than 50%, there is a majority of shareholders who are in favour of the remit.
“I think [the board] should contemplate whether it has a mandate to actually keep going,” one Rumbler says.
“I think it’s a very clear signal to the board that they need to turn around and say ‘clearly this is not good enough, we need to make a proposal back to our shareholders to fix it.’”
That same Rumbler went on to call for resignations of the whole board.
Not everyone agreed.
“I don’t think I would go as far as that. John Wilson got re-elected, he has a mandate.”
The Rumble agreed that at the very least, the Fonterra board received a loud and clear message.
From board sizes to IPOs: the Rumble shifted its focus to a sluggish year for NZX listings.
Takapuna-based drugmaker AFT Pharmaceuticals kicked off a more than $30 million IPO on Friday.
The IPO will price AFT shares at $2.80, giving the company an indicative market capitalisation of $269m.
This AFT joins just two other IPOs this year, Fliway in April and CBL insurance last month.
This compares to 16 IPOs last year, which collectively raised $5 billion.
“There has been a drop-off in IPOs, despite a whole pipeline being announced at the end of last year.”
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NBR Radio
Fri, 27 Nov 2015
Fri, 27 Nov 2015
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The Rumble: 2015’s IPO drought
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