Resignations reduce price

Press, 21 May 1987, Page 24

Resignations reduce price

The resignations by the staff of the standardbred division of Wrightson Bloodstock, Ltd, means that National Bloodstock Corporation, Ltd, has bought the division for a lower price. National Bloodstock announced yesterday that the resignations took place before the settlement of the original proposal to buy the division.

Because of this the cash required to buy the remaining assets of the division would be substantially less. The 200,000 National Bloodstock shares associated with the original deal would not be issued to Wrightson’s. The purchase of Wrightson’s standardbred

division was first announced by National Bloodstock on December 26. This decision caused controversy among standardbred breeders in New Zealand because National Bloodstock owns or controls stallions and mares, and previously Wrightson’s had run the National standardbred yearling sales. Wrightson’s also ran the Great Northern standardbred yearling sales, and breeders showed their dissatisfaction with the announcement of the takeover by withdrawing 114 yearlings of the 117 yearlings catalogued for the February sale. National Bloodstock was among the companies vying to run the National standardbred yearling sales at Addington, which Wrightson’s had previously handled. However, a vendors’ committee chose Pyne, Gould, Guinness Ltd, from among the applicants.

National Bloodstock held its first standardbred yearling sale this year, and it said that the 1988 sale would be held at the new sales complex being built by Wrightson’s at Karaka, in Auckland.