New Zealand insurer Tower has been placed in a trading halt at its request to allow a shareholder with a stake of about 19.9% to sell down. 

US private equity group Bain Capital owns more than 68 million shares, bought in March 2018 from Suncorp brand Vero for $NZ53.9 million ($50.2 million).  

In December 2023, Goldman Sachs was appointed to review Tower’s capital structure and the insurer said last September that while its ownership structure would be unchanged, it was “open to considering any future proposals or opportunities”.

When Goldman Sachs was appointed, Tower traded as low as NZ59c after losing $NZ5.1 million ($4.71 million) in record floods and Cyclone Gabrielle.

Bain paid NZ80c a share after Suncorp’s $NZ236 million ($220 million), or $NZ1.40 a share, takeover bid was rejected by the Commerce Commission.

Canadian insurer Fairfax had also looked at buying the group.

The Australian Financial Review said today Goldman Sachs and Forsyth Barr launched a block trade in Tower before the market opened, worth about 20% of the company, and its sources said the shares were priced at $NZ1.30, a 12.5% discount to the last trade price.

The stock will remain in a trading halt until Wednesday.

Former CEO Blair Turnbull left Tower last month. He took over from Richard Harding in August 2020.