Toll considers reaction to shares report from NZ

Toll Holdings was weighing up its response today (Wednesday, May 15) to a report yesterday by the New Zealand Press Association news wire on share dealings before the NZ rail deal linked to managing director Paul Little, Toll public policy and government relations general manager Andrew Ethell said.

"Mr Little disclosed to the Australian stock exchange on April 18 that two days earlier, a company he is a shareholder and director of, Namarong Investments Pty, bought 131,500 Toll shares at average prices of $7.62," NZPA reported.

"On April 29, he disclosed the purchase of 129,000 Toll shares a week earlier at an average price of $7.67."

The sale had been announced on May 5.

NZPA quoted Mr Ethell as saying: "April 22 is a long time before the 5th of May.

"He clearly didn't do anything that was going to be a problem."

NZPA said that a "securities trading expert, who declined to be identified, noted that while it was well known a deal was in the wind, it was the generous price that Toll received, plus other aspects of the deal, that may have caused other investors to push up Toll shares".

The expert had also said that the way the negotiations went, that may not have been known until the last day.

The NZ Government's rail buyback has caused a ferocious political storm in the country that intensified on reports, details of which were subsequently denied by the Government, that it would reimburse Toll a NZ$200m investment made last year.