Kirkcaldie & Stains Makes Offer On CBD Building

Kirkcaldie & Stains Makes Offer On Wellington CBD Building

Kirkcaldie & Stains Limited has entered into a conditional contract to purchase the Harbour City Centre. The contract is conditional on securing appropriate finance and obtaining shareholder approval.

The Harbour City Centre is strategically positioned adjacent to Kirkcaldie & Stains’ current store location and occupies a high profile position in the Capital’s golden mile of retail on Lambton Quay. It occupies 3,000 square metres of land and has three street frontages. Built in 1929 as the D.I.C. Building, the Harbour City Centre has been held by the present owner for the last twenty years. The building was earthquake strengthened in the early 1980’s.

The building enjoys high occupancy and is an attractive investment in its own right, but more importantly it gives Kirkcaldie and Stains Limited growth opportunities in the future. The opportunity to broaden the range of merchandise we offer is currently limited by the size of the current premises.

It is proposed that the investment will be partly funded by an underwritten 1:2 renounceable rights issue of new shares to existing shareholders at a price of $3.50 per share and partly by bank debt. The rights issue will raise $8.75 million and is proposed to take place once shareholders have approved the transaction. This approval will be sought at a specially convened meeting of shareholders immediately following the company’s annual meeting on 7 February.

Talks are under way with financial institutions over their role and the final details of the funding remain to be determined.

“This is a very positive move for the company to make and opens a range of exciting possibilities for the future,” said Denis Tait, chairman of Kirkcaldie & Stains.

If the contract conditions are met, settlement and transfer of ownership will take place on 29 March 2002.

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