Veritas investigating sale or merger of Better Bar Co
By Paul McBeth
Feb. 27 (BusinessDesk) - Veritas Investments is investigating a sale or merger of its profitable Better Bar Co as the
NZX-listed firm seeks ways to repay lender ANZ Bank New Zealand.
The Auckland-based company has been granted three lifelines by its lender, which is owed almost $27 million as at Dec.
31, as it sells assets to repay that debt. It exited the unprofitable Nosh supermarkets last year and has a conditional
agreement to sell the Mad Butcher franchisor to chief executive Michael Morton, with an independent adviser's report set
to be mailed out to shareholders once a date for a special meeting has been set.
The $8 million sale price would generate a $5 million accounting gain and go towards repaying ANZ, however it would be
less than a quarter of the $40 million price tag attached when Veritas bought the franchisor business in 2013, of which
Morton received $20 million in cash and $20 million in shares.
A successful transaction would leave the Better Bar Co as the firm's remaining unit, and Veritas's directors are
assessing a number of options "which may include the sale or merger" of the business, recapitalisation or refinancing of
its lending arrangements, or a combination of those options, the company's first-half report said.
Net profit fell to $153,000, or 0.35 cents per share, in the six months ended Dec. 31, from $1.2 million, or 2.78 cents,
a year earlier, with $750,000 of restructuring costs and $397,000 of losses on its discontinued Mad Butcher operations
weighing on the bottom line.
Better Bar Co lifted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation 1.9 percent to $3.1 million on an
equivalent increase in revenue to $12.2 million.
The shares last traded at 5 cents, valuing the company at $2.2 million.
(BusinessDesk)