Fletcher Forests Rights Issue

Forests rights issue

AUCKLAND, 18 December 2000 – Fletcher Challenge Limited announced today that, of the 1,709,015,794 new Fletcher Challenge Forests Preference shares issued, 1,037,602,141 shares were taken up by shareholders, 147,717,498 were purchased by various institutions who agreed with the underwriter, Credit Suisse First Boston, to subscribe for fixed proportionate amounts of the total amount of unsubscribed shares and 523,696,155 were purchased by the underwriter. Credit Suisse First Boston has advised that it has sold 100 million of those shares as part of its sub-underwriting arrangements.

Fletcher Challenge, on behalf of Rubicon (a company to be formed as part of the Fletcher Challenge Group restructuring), has exercised its call option to require Credit Suisse First Boston to sell to Rubicon at a price of NZ$0.25 per share, up to 267,148,663 of the shares purchased by Credit Suisse First Boston. The call option will be settled on the effective date of separation of the Fletcher Challenge Group (expected to be in mid-March 2001).

Rubicon may subsequently require Fletcher Challenge Building to purchase up to 117,429,733 of the shares taken up by Rubicon under the call option.

Until the call option is settled, Credit Suisse First Boston may dispose of the 267 million shares subject to the Rubicon call option having, where practicable, consulted with Fletcher Challenge. Any gains or losses attributable to the sale of these shares, inclusive of interest, between 8 December and the effective date of separation of the Fletcher Challenge Group will be to Rubicon’s account.

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