Skellerup jumps 5.1% on replacing Pike River in NZX 50

Skellerup share price jumps on replacing Pike River in NZX 50

Dec 14 (BusinessDesk) - Skellerup Holdings, the rubber goods and milking equipment group, will soon be joining New Zealand's biggest listed companies the NZX 50 index after Pike River Coal Ltd. was placed in receivership.

Shares in Skellerup rose 5.1% to $1.04 on the news, and have gained 92% in value so far this year.

New Zealand Oil & Gas Ltd., which owns a 29% stake in the coal miner, called in the receivers yesterday to help Pike stave off insolvency after a series of explosions at its West Coast mine killed 29 miners and brought production to a halt.

Pike shares, which have been in a trading halt since the accidenton Nov. 19, were yesterday suspended on the NZX.

The securities market operator said in statement that it chose to make the change rather than have a non-tradeable security in the Index. The change will be effective when the market opens on Dec. 20.NZX said it will conduct a targeted consultation with the market to determine the best price for Pike to exit the index.

The options include using the last traded price of 88 cents, a theoretical price based on an assessment of the Pike order book after NZOG came out of trading halt, which would value shares at 21 cents each, or writing off the value altogether based on the probability that the stock will not trade again.

This is the second change to the NZX 50 this year, after DNZ Property Fund Ltd. replaced NZ Farming Systems Uruguay Ltd. when Singapore's Olam International bought almost 80% of the company.

(BusinessDesk) 10:34:45

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