Rural services firm Wrightson today said it is not going ahead with its planned one in six share buyback after lack of interest from shareholders, it said today.
Wrightson said in October it wanted to buy back one in every six shares for $1.56 each, but that was conditional on aminimum acceptance level of 13.7 million shares.
Acceptances for just 4.8 million shares were received.
Spokesman Mike Sang said the outcome was not surprising, as the market price of Wrightson shares had increased significantly since the offer was launched.
At 12.40pm, Wrightson shares were down 3c at $1.63, having traded between $1.17 and $1.70 in the past year.
Mr Sang said in a statement there were a number of acceptances -- mainly for small shareholdings.
"The company will now consider various options to assist small shareholders to resolve their position," he said.
Wrightson was unable to waive the minimum acceptance level as doing so meant the proceeds would be treated as a dividend.
Earlier this month, Wrightson tried to spark some enthusiasm for the buyback by selling shareholders they could probably sell all their shares into the offer.
