Southland interests band together

Press, 15 December 1983, Page 32

Southland interests band together

Dalgety Crown Corporation, Ltd, will not be making any offer for shares in the Southland Farmers Cooperative Association, Ltd. The recently-merged Wellington-based company showed an interest earlier when J. E. Watson and Company, Ltd, a whollyowned subsidiary of the Yates Corporation, last week sought all shares in Southland Farmers. Yesterday, however, Dalgety Crown’s chairman, Mr R. B. Weir, said his company would not make any offer for Southland Farmers shares. He said the company had said from the outset that it was not interested in making an offer if there was local opposition. “We’re complying with the wishes of the local people who don’t want their co-operative to become part of a national chain,” he said. Shareholders of Southland

Farmers meet today to discuss the Watson offer, which directors decided on Monday to oppose. The Watson offer is 260 c cash for each Southland Farmers share, or one Yates share, trading at about 200 c, plus 55c cash. The bid has been since overtaken in local interest by an announcement thaL the Alliance Freezing Company and the Southland Cooperative Phosphate Company are interested in talking with Southland Farmers jointly. Any merger of the three would result in the creation of a large company less vulnerable to the type of offer made by Yates through J. E. Watson. There has also been suggestions here that Dalgety Crown and J. E. Watson might rationalise their operations in Southland if the Watson bid for Southland Farmers is unsuccessful. The two companies are already partners in South-

land Woolbrokers, Ltd, at .- Lorneville. Mr Weir said that Dal- . gety Crown had not been • involved in any talks with J. I E. Watson. As far as he was < concerned, they were com- : petitors, although he and J. E. Watson’s chairman, Mr W. R. Jackson, were - friends. Mr Weir added: “I can ' only give the same reply as / I gave at the beginning ... * we’ve been in Southland 100 years and if anything happens in the industry, we’re interested.” Mr Jackson said his board would meet on Monday to consider its options, but his feeling was that the offer would be left as it was, even though a two-week time lapse for its consideration . would be up then. Meanwhile, Waitaki NZR has taken up a 24.9 per cent holding in Otago-based Reid Farmers, buying up the shares for $4.30 each. Last Thursday, Dalgety Crown , was offering $4 a share and . that was immediately followed by Yates Corporation . with $4.05. Neither company was particularly successful after Reid Farmers issued a “don’t sell” notice, and said it was talking to another ’ company.