Anonymous bidders seek silver shares

Press, 2 June 1984, Page 21

Anonymous bidders seek silver shares

PA Auckland A $660,000 bid for 40 per cent of the listed Auckland silverware merchant and bullion dealer, Walker and Hall, Ltd, has quickly come close to success. The Auckland sharebroker, Morrow and Benjamin, stood in the market yesterday morning with a target of 110,000 shares in Walker and Hall. By the close of business the firm had bought 92,000 shares.

That total would give the unidentified buyer effective control of about 335 per cent of the company. The offer price was 130 c above the previous last sale price, on May 28, at 470 c. Later in the day, Statham, Caesar, Jackson, and Company came into the market, seeking shares at 602 c each. The national turnover reported at that price was 11,800 shares. The chairman of Walker

and Hall, Mr A. W. Tattersfield, said the offer price was considered fair, and the directors had responded by selling the majority of their own holdings. Walker and Hall reported a 56.1 per cent drop in taxpaid profit to $16,092 in the six months to October 31. Market sources approached yesterday gave no clue as to the identity or motive of the buyer of the Walker and Hall shares.