$1.12m offer for part of Carbonic Ice

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33003, 24 August 1972, Page 16

$1.12m offer for part of Carbonic Ice

Carbonic Ice, Ltd, Christchurch manufacturer of carbon dioxide gas, dry ice, dry ice-making and fire extinguishing equipment, has received the formal offer from New Zealand Industrial Gases to purchase the CO2 business of the company.

The offer covers the freehold and leasehold properties in the various centres which were used to make CO2 gas; the manufacturing and auxiliary plant used for the production of gas and dry ice — including fire extinguisher servicing equipment; plant spares and sundry tools and accessories; transport trailers and tanks; cylinders used for servicing customers; and stocks of materials and gases on hand at October 31 next.

Although acceptance of the offer would result in the disposal of the major part of the company’s activities, it is not a take-over of Carbonic

Ice, and shareholdings will remain unaltered. The board of Carbonic Ice had accepted the offer, but conditional upon the approval of the shareholders, said the chairman (Mr C. C. Holland) in a circular letter. An extraordinary general meeting will be held on September 7. The company’s profits from the sale of carbon dioxide gas and dry ice were substantially reduced during the last few years because of rapidly rising costs, Mr Holland said. The timing of the offer was particularly appropriate, as it would come into effect just a few months before the Christchurch engineering operations were to be moved to larger premises in Hornby in March next year, he said. For the immediate future Carbonic Ice operations would be on the plant engineering side, and the company would concentrate on the manufacturing and exporting of such plant and fire extinguishing equipment. The offer includes an undertaking to continue the employment of existing staff throughout New Zealand. The consideration for the purchase is $1,120,000 — consisting of $785,000 in cash and 100,000 fully paid shares in New Zealand Industrial Gases. These shares were valued for the purpose of the

offer at 335 c each. In the last few months they have been trading between 375 c and 395 c. The directors considered the price to be a satisfactory one, Mr Holland said. The directors will in due course give consideration to the distribution to shareholders of the cash and/or shares received from New Zealand Industrial Gases.