Kiwi tidies up staff shares

Press, 13 April 1989, Page 24

Kiwi tidies up staff shares

PA Wellington Coming to grips with the post-crash slump in its share price, Kiwi Gold, Nl, has moved to tidy up partly-paid scrip sitting in its books. The gold prospecting company has taken back 200,000 shares from employees who have opted not to pay the 219 c a share outstanding. The 220 c issue price was in line with market values for Kiwi Gold when the 25c shares were issued in 1987. Under the company’s no liability status, the shareholders do not have to come up with more than the 1c paid on initial subscription. The shares have now been forfeited for nonpayment of a call and will be offered for sale by Kiwi Gold at an auction on May 11 at the company’s Auckland office. Any buyer at the auction would have to pay at least 219 c a share for the shares. “We’re just going through the motions to get rid of them,” said Kiwi Gold's managing director,

Mr David Seton, yesterday. Kiwi Gold last traded on the market at 30c a share and Mr Seton said there was very little chance of the partly-paid shares, some of which he had held, ever being paid in full. When the scrip was disposed of, provision for them in the company’s share premium account would be removed. “We’ll get shareholder approval to let them full back into the capital of the company.” Kiwi Gold, listed on the Stock Exchange in March 1987, has fully-paid issued capital of 24.55 million shares, with High Court approval now awaited for the issue of a further 6.8 million. Mr Seton said the new shares would be used to pay for mining assets acquired from subsidiary company, Kiwi Oil. He said the disposal of the partly-paid shares would not affect the business of Kiwi Gold, which has interests in an array of prospecting licences in Northland, the Coromandel and Otago.