Elders in N.Z. ‘to stay’

Press, 3 September 1986, Page 35

Elders in N.Z. ‘to stay’

PA Wellington Australian woolbroking and stock and station company, Elders Pastoral, Ltd, has denied a report that it would withdraw from New Zealand. The managing director of Elders, Mr Michael Hamilton, said from Adelaide that he was concerned to read a Wellington newspaper report which suggested Elders would be pulling out as a result of the Commerce Commission’s approving Wrightson NMA’s acquisition of most Dalgety Crown Branches. “Our objective is to become New Zealand’s major national farm servicing competitor, providing a real alternative for the farming community and the agricultural marketplace," he said. He confirmed that Elders was investigating the purchase of Dalgety Crown branches in the five North Island regions which the Commission excluded from the merger for competitive reasons. The chairman of the Crown Corporation, Sir Roderick Weir, told NZPA that Crown and Elders had held discussions on the sale of the businesses, but Elders had not made any formal offer. There had been other inquiries about different parts of Crown’s businesses in the five regions: Wellington, Manawatu, Wairarapa, Wanganui, and

Taihape, he said. “But we have not got any serious negotiations going on at this stage about the businesses,” he said.

He said Crown’s assets in the five regions were worth about S43M. Elders has the commission’s approval to purchase all or part of the assets of Dalgety Crown.

“Following the Examiner of Commercial Practices’ initial report on the merger, we considered a- number of options, including our long-term future. I now wish to make it clear that we are committed to growth and intend to stay in New Zealand,” Mr Hamilton said.

“I was pleased to see that the Commerce Commission accepted the Eld-

ers submission that the Wrightson-Dalgety merger was contrary to the public interest. We have steadfastly maintained that the

merger would not be in the best interest of farmers. “We are, however, concerned at the inadequacy of the conditions relating to entry to wool exchanges and saleyards imposed by the commission and are currently considering them further.”

Mr Hamilton said the the exclusion of the regions from the merger was a tangible indication that the commission did not wish to see an outright monopoly in the farm servicing sector. Elders was seeking experienced staff to expand existing branches and to become established in new areas.

“In line with our intention to expand our New Zealand business, Mr R. G. Giffen, a senior executive of Elders Pastoral, has been relocated in New Zealand as executive director responsible for our entire New Zealand operations,” Mr Hamilton said.