Crane institutional investors approve Fletcher bid

Fletcher Building chief executive Jonathan Ling. Photo / Dean Purcell

Institutional investors in Fletcher Building takeover target, Crane Group, have given the thumbs-up to the A$10.07 a share offer, after the New Zealand construction

Perpetual, Crane's biggest institutional investor with a 7.5 per cent holding, has indicated it will lodged its shares in Fletcher's acceptance facility, along with a number of other eligible shareholders.

Fletcher set up the facility for investors to signal their intent to sell.

Last week Crane's directors recommended that shareholders accept Fletcher's offer after earlier panning the bid. The deal would give Crane shareholders one Fletcher share plus A$3.50 cash for each Crane share.

Auckland-based Fletcher's offer for Crane is still conditional on regulatory and antitrust approval on both sides of the Tasman and the acquisition of 90 per cent of Crane's ordinary shares.

Under Fletcher's third supplementary bidder's statement, eligible brokers will receive a commission for acceptances of the offer which they solicit from Crane retail shareholders.

Fletcher Building shares on the ASX were last at A$6.24, while Crane traded at A$9.51. In this morning's trading on the NZX, Fletcher's fell by 0.2 per cent to $8.20.