BIL sees 50% assets in U.K., U.S., by 1990

Press, 4 September 1989, Page 30

BIL sees 50% assets in U.K., U.S., by 1990

NZPA-AAP Sydney About 50 per cent of Brierley Investments, Ltd’s, assets will be in Britain and the United States by the end of this year compared with about 3% in 1983-1984, its chief executive, Mr Paul Collins, said. The biggest growth opportunities for New Zealand’s second-largest listed company were outside Australia and New Zealand, he said. He would not comment on whether BIL wouldmop up the outstanding stock in its 70 per centowned Hong Kong-based international offshoot, Industrial Equity (Pacific), Ltd. “That’s been rumoured off and on for three or four years now, just as with Industrial Equity, Ltd.” lEL is subject to a management buyout and BlL’s former 52% holding has already been reduced to 12%. Although BIL would set up a new office in Sydney once it had extricated it-

self from lEL, the Australian sharemarket had already been “reasonably well picked over,” he said. The new Australian arm would concentrate on the investment company’s "traditional business of buying shares in publicly listed companies which we see as being undervalued,” he said. Mr Collins dismissed a newspaper report that the former BIL chairman, Sir Ronald Brierley, would be given sAustso million (SNZ64M) to inyest in Australia. “That’s a very small amount of money in our context. We have no plans to invest X or Y amount of dollars. If Ron comes up with a good deal anywhere in the world which involves one billion dollars, we will do it.” The areas in which BIL traditionally invested did not depend on economic conditions, but Australia was heading into a “difficult period over the next 12 to 18 months,” he said. Second-line property and “a number of en-

trepreneurial companies” would be hardest hit but it was unlikely Australia would be hit as hard as New Zealand after the 1987 sharemarket crash, he said. It would be “business as usual” at BIL, despite Sir Ronald’s departure. “We’re a very aggressive sort of an investor if we need to be,” Mr Collins said. Mr Collins said he had been chief executive since December, 1985 and had made 90 per cent of all public statements since then. Sir Ronald’s moving to a non-executive role would make little difference to BlL’s public face, Mr Collins said. Off-loading lEL would have a positive impact on BIL profit, he said. BIL would receive nearly sAustl billion for its stake and could earn more on that if it merely placed the money on deposit than it would from its share of lEL’s profit, about sAust2soM as forecast by analysts, he said.