Arnotts accepts Fielder offer

Press, 30 January 1986, Page 24

Arnotts accepts Fielder offer

NZPA-AAP Sydney The bid to form Australasia’s largest food group was close to realisation after Arnotts, Ltd, directors decided to accept the offer by Fielder Gillespie Davis, Ltd, for their company’s 35 per cent stake in Allied Mills, Ltd. Fielder is offering five of its shares for every

four Allied shares in a three-way merger proposal involving New Zealand’s Goodman Group, Ltd. Arnotts’ acceptance, together with the Goodman Group’s 14.3 per cent stake in Allied, entitles Fielder to nearly 50 per cent — Fielder’s minimum acceptance condition. Arnotts’ directors said

that the merger between Allied, Fielder and Goodman “has the potential to be a major force in both the Australian and New Zealand markets, and will have much greater growth potential than the component companies individually.” The latest development followed advice from

Fielder that it intended to consult Arnotts before any decision to dispose of Allied’s 19.9 per cent holding in Arnotts. It said such a disposal would be either by way of sale to Arnotts’ shareholders, to other interested parties, or by Allied agreeing to cancel its shareholding for an appropriate consideration.