Shares: Taking Stock

Wine connoisseurs will soon get a chance to imbibe some California Wine Company stock. The group, which produces wine in the Napa Valley and is traded on Ofex, is raising $1.67m (pounds 990,000) through a one-for- four rights issue at $1.50 (88.8p) a share. The money will be used to renovate and expand part of its vineyard, and to buy wine in bulk to benefit from higher demand in the marketplace. The shares closed unchanged at 70.5p.

The Range Cooker Company is cooking up a listing on AIM. It is trying to raise pounds 700,000 to develop its Britannia range of ovens, and to introduce its new Sheffield line. The group is expected to be capitalised at around pounds 6.25m when trading begins on December 1. In the year to the end of April 1997, pre-tax profits jumped from pounds 164,000 to pounds 990,000.