Alliance wants early decision

Press, 5 December 1989, Page 3

Alliance wants early decision

By

DIANE KEENAN

The Alliance Freezing Company says it must have a decision from the Commerce Commission in early January on whether it can proceed with its takeover of Waitaki International. Last week the commission temporarily blocked the proposed takeover and it raised fears of a potential monopoly in the meat processing industry in Southland and Otago.

The chairman of the commission, Dr Susan Lojkine, said the commission wanted to consider a number of issues in more detail. She has invited interested parties to lodge submissions by December 20 and plans to hold a conference early next month.

The chief executive of Alliance, Mr Sandy Murdoch, said that his company would need the commission’s decision within a few days of the early January conference.

He was not upset by the delay and said the timetable proposed by the commission would not cause “too many problems.” “Our only concern is if the commission’s deliberations are protracted and drag on well into January.”

Mr Murdoch said time was important because of the industry’s seasonal nature. “The further we go into the season, the more limited we are with what can be implemented,” he said.

Changes proposed this season included matching the capabilities of the different plants with market requirements. Mr Murdoch said the commission’s action in temporarily blocking the takeover was “not a complete surprise” and he understood why it wanted more time. He said the company had no option but to wait. It had already made a submission and would provide more information to the commission as required. He said he hoped the delay would not create more uncertainty for the Alliance and Waitaki workforce and overseas meat customers.

Key operators who had not known what had been going on, had shown some hesitancy in the last few years, he said.