Goodman tactic under scrutiny

Press, 21 June 1984, Page 24

Goodman tactic under scrutiny

PA Auckland The Commerce Commission has asked the Examiner of Commercial Practices to investigate aspects of the Goodman Group-Brierley Investments arrangement under which Brierley bought 10 per cent of Wattie Industries earlier this year. It was revealed last week that the Goodman Group was behind the purchase by Brierley of Wattie’s shares when New Zealand Forest Products was making an unsuccessful bid for the food-processing group.

Goodman undertook to meet the difference between what Brierley paid for Wattie’s shares and what it sold them for. The share block was ultimately sold to the Dairy Board for an undisclosed sum.

A spokesman for the office of the Examiner said yesterday that it was "taking legal advice on the matter” and that the Good-man-Brierley move may have been implemented in an illegal manner. The uncertainty revolves partly around whether Goodman and Brierley should have applied for the Examiner’s consent before going ahead with the Wattie’s share raid.

An official of the Commerce Commission said he expected a decision to come from the Examiner within two weeks and his recommendations would determine any further action. The managing director of NZFP, Mr Warren Hunt, said his company “was not a party to, nor had any knowledge of, the (Good-man-Brierley) negotiations.” However, he said Goodman’s acknowledgement that it had sought to block NZFP’s bid for Wattie’s would not make any difference to the relationship between the two companies.

NZFP and Goodman became the main shareholders in Wattie’s when a truce was settled by the two groups soon after NZFP called off its offer for Wattie’s.

Mr Hunt said the Good-man-Brierley move “is now history” and the opposition of the Examiner to NZFP’s bid for Wattie’s had a more material impact on the take-over than did Brierley’s purchases. He said that the managing director of Goodman, Mr Peter Shirtcliffe, had notified NZFP about the Goodman-Brierley tie-up “a matter of days” before it was disclosed to shareholders.