10 Aug 2015

Duke in battle to win over Kathmandu shareholders

10:43 am on 10 August 2015

Briscoe Group's major shareholder and managing director Rod Duke is to meet with some of Kathmandu's key shareholders in Australia again this week, but he faces an uphill battle winning them over.

Large investors Kinetic Investment Partners and Watermark Funds Management will reportedly reject Mr Duke's $1.80 a share takeover bid as too low.

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Photo: RNZ

An appraisal report commissioned by Kathmandu valued the outdoor clothing and equipment retailer at between $2.10 and $2.41 each.

But Mr Duke was not budging, at least for now.

"The existing offer is very, very fair," he said.

Mr Duke said Kathmandu's 2015 financial forecasts were well short of expectations, while 2016's projections will be difficult to achieve based on its performance.

"Same-store sales, which for the last four to five years have been shrinking, but somehow miraculously next year it's all going to turn around."

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