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Rumours fuel Centro's leap
Email Print Normal font Large font AdvertisementCarolyn Cummins
April 4, 2008

SPECULATIVE day traders waded into the Centro Properties battle yesterday, pushing its units up by more than 70 per cent after reports that its bankers had received interest in buying at high prices to avoid forcing the group into administration.

The price surge and heavy buying was enough for Centro to get a "please explain" query from the Australian Securities Exchange and to be later suspended from trading.

With suggestions in the market that a buyer was willing to pay 90c a security - compared to yesterday's opening price of 32.2c - Centro's directors responded to the exchange's query by saying they remained in discussions with a number of parties but knew of no specific reason for the sudden interest.

But investors still jumped in on the rumours and bought 128 million of the securities when trade opened. By 1.20pm yesterday afternoon the ASX had stepped in and placed Centro and Centro Retail Trust in a trading halt.

The hectic buying, and rumours of a white knight coming to the rescue of the embattled property group, pushed the securities in Centro up 21c to a high of 65c before falling back to 50.5c. Its associate Centro Retail Trust was pushed up 32 per cent or 11c to 45.5c.

The prices remain a far cry from the $8 high Centro hit late last year before it revealed it could not meet its December 2007 deadline to repay debts of $4.2 billion.

CommSec transacted 38 per cent of yesterday's volume, followed by E-Tradeand the absence of a traditional institutional broker suggested the trades were by smaller "opportunistic" investors.

"With no obvious institutional buyer in there, unless they used CommSec, it does not bode well for the price staying at this price [50.5c] when trading resumes," one dealer, who declined to be named, said.

Centro's directors said they remained unaware of any specific offer.

"Centro Properties Group is in discussions with a number of parties and lender groups in relation to the recapitalisation process," the company said. "Those discussions remain incomplete.

"At this time, there is no certainty or assurance that these discussions will lead to a transaction, what form such transaction may take, or what value might arise out of a transaction, if any."

A number of parties have been named as possible buyers for either all of Centro or its stake in its Australian and United States wholesale funds, including the investment houses Citadel, Macquarie Bank and Blackstone.

Yesterday's moves come as Centro's bankers move closer to finalising details to extend the deadline to repay its $4.2 billion of debt from April 30 to the end of September, to be in line with its US financiers.

That would give Centro's management, led by Glenn Rufrano, time to raise the cash in an orderly way rather than through a fire sale of the business.
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