KEY POINTS:
Viking Capital is not just a listed investment company, says chairman Brent King, it's also an investment bank.
Last week, Viking was advertising for software companies available for sale for up to $10 million but King said the search was being made on behalf of a client and
not for direct investment by Viking.
The software company project was not the only banking job under way, although only one sentence in a 32-page prospectus for the June float said such fee-paying jobs would be considered.
Asked if Viking was now more of an investment fund or investment bank, King said: "Where's the money today? We're just chasing the money."
The firm also hoped an application to be an NZX sponsor would be approved in the next week or so, giving it the right to list other companies.
"My job is solely to create shareholder value," King said.
"If a really good fee option comes up that's great, if there's a really good investment comes up, that's great.
"We are not going to put a box around us and say we'll only do this or we won't do that."
Viking Capital's float in June raised $12.4 million - less than the $15 million King had been aiming for - and it was later boosted to more than $14 million with warrants and cash placements.
Shares in Viking did not trade yesterday but closed at 29c when they last changed hands.
Viking's first significant investment came in August with the $3.8 million purchase of a more than 17.5 per cent stake in Auckland-based ICP Biotechnology.
ICPbio makes the serum and media used by other biotechnology companies and fitted the Viking bill "to a tee", King said.
Finding businesses in New Zealand that were not dependent on people having sales financed by high debt through the retail sector was hard, he said.
ICPbio had demand from outside the domestic economy plus fantastic margins.
"When you stop and think about where you can actually invest, you can take a gamble on buying something at a high multiple but, at the moment, I think New Zealand's prices are waiting for a smack, a very big hit," King said.
King, who has two decades of experience in finance, banking and accounting, is the founder of finance company Dorchester Pacific.
He stepped down as managing director of that firm last year only to seek re-election to the board at a lively annual meeting in August. He was turned down.