Agricola issue approved

Press, 23 December 1988, Page 24

Agricola issue approved

PA Wellington Agricola Resources shareholders have approved the issue of 25.8 million shares to pay for five new businesses, but in the process extracted commitments from directors regarding independent valuations of those companies. At an extraordinary meeting before Agricola’s annual meeting in Wellington, shareholders approved the issue of the 50c Agricola shares at par

to buy companies from major shareholder, DFC Ventures. The companies are plant propagation firm Nerine International; miniature ornamental plant company Miniplants International; New Zealand Beef Packers; Ranui Bloodstock, owner of the Tasman goat stud; and Greenfield Industries which owns a mushroom exporter, beef and mutton processor, Westcorp, and a primary products exporter.

The purchases, which were outlined late last month, will boost DFC’s stake in Agricola to around 90 per cent. DFC has obtained a temporary exemption from the Stock Exchange listing requirement that no more than 75 per cent of a company’s capital be in one hand, and has promised to sell down its holding by the middle of next year. DFC representatives did not vote the company’s shares on the resolutions.