OVER £29,000,000 INVOLVED IN NEW CONVERSION OFFER

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22891, 10 March 1949, Page 5

OVER £29,000,000 INVOLVED IN NEW CONVERSION OFFER

(P.A.) WELLINGTON, March 9. A conversion offer to holders of Government securities maturing this year, or where the Government lias the option of Redemption this year, Was announced hy the Minister of Finance, Mr. W. Nash, today.

The offer, he. said, concerned over £29,000,000 of debt domiciled in New Zealand.

¥ Mr. Nash said that the conversion offer was addressed to holders of the following Government securities: 2J per cent stock maturing June 15, 1947/49, being part of the Third Liberty Loan issued in 1943; 2J per cent stock maturing February 15, 1949/50, being part of the Victory Loan issued in 1944; four per cent stock maturing May 15, 1949/52, ; being part of the 1933 Conversion Loan. Procedure Explained 1 Holders of these securities were in« 1 vited to apply as soon as was convenient, but not later than April 14, 1949, ; for new stock to be issued at par as follows: Either three per cent stock ■ maturing June 15, 1961/64, or, alterna- ■ tively, 2J per cent stock maturing June . 15, 1954/55. If the holder so desires application may be made for conversion of portion of his existing stock into the three pel cent long-dated issue and portion into the 21- per cent short-dated issue. The Minister explained that the June 15, 1947/49 loan had reached its final maturity date, but in the case of the other two loans the original prospectuses gave the Government right to repay them before the final maturity • date.

Formal notice was given in this week’s Gazette of the intention to repay the two loans on June 15, 1949, Interest on the old stock would be paid up to June 15, 1949 and on all stock converted interest would be paid in future on June 15 and December 15 in each year. “I would request stockholders to nota the date of the closing of the conversion offer, namely April 14,” said th« Minister. “I ask that they send in theii applications for conversion as soon as possible. ■ Forms of application, together with a copy of the prospectus, are being posted to each stockholder in the next day or so.” “Any stockholder who did not accepl the offer of conversion by April 14 would be repaid in cash, with interest to June 15, 1949.” Death Duty Concession Mr. Nash added: “Death duty stock has become a feature of our loans and the concession being offered as one oi the terms of this conversion loan to any person accepting conversion is thal he can stipulate in his application thal the whole or* any portion of the new conversion stock shall be available ai par for payment of death duties in hii estate, in event of death occurring before the loan matures.” The Minister stated that this was on* of the largest conversion operationi ever undertaken by any Government in New Zealand. The new stock, with th* alternative of long-dated or short-dated investment should appeal to stockholders, as it was gilt-edged security. Mr. Nash added: “I confidently appeal to all stockholders in the maturing loans to convert their holding into new stocks on offer. By so doing they will not only serve their own interests bui will also help to maintain the financial and economic stability of the country."