Scales Corp, the fruit and vegetables logistics group which owns New Zealand's largest apple exporter Mr Apple, has announced it is considering listing on the New Zealand stock exchange.
In a statement, the group said it would publish a prospectus by mid-June and that shares were expected to appear on the exchange's main board by the middle of July.
New shares will be issued by the company while its majority shareholder, the private equity firm Direct Capital, which owns 84 per cent of Scales through its Direct Capital IV and Pohutukawa II funds, will sell down some of its shareholding alongside co-investors ACC and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund.
Scales recently posted an annual profit of NZ$20.4m for 2013, 50 per cent up on the previous year's result, buoyed by strong prices for Mr Apple's apple exports on the back of increased demand in Asia.
The group also owns and operates airfreight service Balance Cargo, ocean freight service provider Scales Logistics, coldstorage operators Polarcold Stores and Whakatu Coldstores and fruit juice concentrate business Pro Fruit.
Investment history
In early 2012, Scales completed the purchase of a stake in Turners & Growers, one of New Zealand's major fresh produce exporters and its biggest customer.
It later raised NZ$25.5m from a rights issue, enabling it to repay the NZ$20m it had borrowed from Direct Capital to secure the investment.
By securing the stake, Scales was effectively able to block a full takeover of T&G by German conglomerate BayWa, leaving the door open to further consolidation.
And crucially, the share sale left Scales with additional funds, which it said could potentially be used to expand further and merge with T&G's fruit division Enza.
The likelihood of a merger between Mr Apple and Enza has diminished over the past couple of years, according to industry insiders, as the respective directors of T&G and Scales have concentrated on ensuring their businesses capitalise on strong market demand.
However, it remains possible that T&G itself might seek to shore up what remains a key service provider – not to mention supplier of Enza's proprietary branded apples Jazz and Envy – by securing some of the newly available shares.
