Forest Products and Wattie’s

Press, 23 January 1984, Page 16

Forest Products and Wattie’s

Sir,—The directors of N.Z. Forest Products, Ltd, state that they are making a very generous offer to Wattie’s shareholders by offering in excess of $550 million for assets with a book value of $244.9 million. Is this generosity fair to the existing shareholders of N.Z. Forest Products, Ltd? When the excitement of the take-over has subsided, the existing shareholders will probably discover that the value of their shares has dropped considerably. Power politics in big business may be great fun for the directors, but they would do well to remember that their prime duty is to their own shareholders. — Yours, etc.,

A. B. HARMAN. January 20, 1984.

Sir,—When a wood products company builds up over the years and becomes one of the largest, most successful and most respected corporations, it naturally and normally expects and intends to attract investors in its shares (the more the better) to finance continuing development, modernisation and improvement in growing and manufacturing wood to keep its position in the world. What is the duty and responsibility of the people who run that great and respected company? Is it to continue giving their highest efforts to grow more and tetter trees and more and better wood products for the world, or is it to spend tens of millions of the company’s hard-earned dollars elsewhere? Boiling them in a vat of tomato soup would spoil the soup. — Yours, etc.,

ARTHUR GARRETT. January 20, 1984.