28 June 2012 6:52am

IMB shareholders have sold down the building society's stock over the past month, giving the thumbs down to a buyback plan that the IMB board announced at the end of May.

IMB has a hybrid structure; it is a mutual approved deposit-taking institution and also a public company limited by guarantee and shares. The shares are traded on an exempt market operated by IMB.

In pursuit of a growth strategy, the board commissioned consultants Grant Samuel Corporate Finance and Watson Mangioni Lawyers to work on its structure.

The consultants’ view was that the ordinary shares had...