TIL Logistics Group, the New Plymouth-based freight and logistics company, has retained former shareholders of Bethunes Investments after completing a reverse listing transaction.
Shareholders of Bethunes, which changed its name to TIL Logistics last month, had until Wednesday to exercise their right to sell their shares to the dominant owner and a total of 35 shareholders with 928 shares in aggregate did so, the company says.
A spokeswoman said it was viewed as a vote of confidence that hardly any of the old Bethunes shareholders opted to sell.
The Bethunes shareholders approved the reverse listing at a special meeting last month having exited the auction business in 2016. The acquirer, Bowker Holdings 99, completed the transaction, owning more than 90 per cent of the voting rights and becoming the dominant owner.
The company was granted a waiver from NZX listing rules that require a company to have at least 25 per cent of shares held by 500 members of the public to allow the transaction to proceed and the spokeswoman said it was now working through options to increase the spread of shareholders.
TIL Logistics has four divisions - freighting, tankers, warehousing and international. According to its website, the company began in 1869 as Hook Bros and in the 1990s embarked on an acquisition strategy that saw the company expand its national reach.
TIL expects to report a statutory loss of $10.3 million on revenue of $327.8m in the year ending June 30, 2018, turning to a profit of $11.1m on revenue of $335.5m the following year. The shares closed up 1c at $2.01, valuing the company at about $163.7m.