Saturday 16th of April 2005

News Round Up April A three way merger between insurance broking firms H D Fraser & Macandrew Limited of Dunedin and Christchurch-based firms Lance Ryan Brokers Limited and Macandrew Insurances International Limited has created a new force in the South Island insurance industry. As of April 1, 2005 the business will be known as Fraser Macandrew Ryan Limited and will have a combined annual turnover in excess of $40 million. Managing Director Howard Fraser described the merger as, “Partly in response to demand for a large, locally-owned brokerage that gives South Island businesses an alternative to multi-nationals.” “All three businesses share a strong service culture and by joining forces, we are creating a robust ‘back end’ structure which allows us to deliver an even higher level of service to clients” he said. Currently, the group has several major clients in Auckland and the move will also enable it to grow its share of the market in other parts of New Zealand. Fellow Director Fraser Macandrew said, “With industry legislation imminent, this change will enable us to put in place new corporate governance practices and a sound compliance framework.” The business remains wholly-owned by the three South Island-based principals along with several working shareholders. Former Director of Marsh New Zealand, Paul Meehan, is the CEO of the new entity. New Zealand Exchange Limited (NZX) has announced the following constituent changes to its equity indices. These changes will take effect from Monday 2 May 2005. · NZSX 50 Index, NZSX 50 Portfolio Index and NZSX MidCap Index Macquarie Goodman Property Trust (MGP) will be added to the above Indices. Skellmax Industries Ltd (SKX) will be deleted. · NZSX SCI Index Skellmax Industries Ltd (SKX) will be added to the NZSX SCI Index. Macquarie Goodman Property Trust (MGP) will be deleted. Macquarie Goodman Property Trust has been promoted to the NZSX 50 Index after a recent entitlements offer and placement boosted MGP's free float market capitalisation to over $280 million. The new funds are being used to acquire a portfolio of property assets. Macquarie Goodman Property Trust will rank in the top 30 of the Issuers in the NZSX 50 Index. Skellmax Industries will be removed from the NZSX 50 Index, but will take MGP's place in the small-cap NZSX SCI Index. ING issues formal notice of takeover for Urbus ING today issued a formal takeover notice for Urbus, which if successful would create the country's second-largest listed property trust, with a market capitalisation of about $550 million http://www.sharechat.co.nz/news/scnews/article.php/a0285cd7