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BayWa deal reaches advanced stage

18 February 2012

Reports from New Zealand suggests that the deal in which German giant Baywa is taking over control of Turners & Growers is in the final stages of approval.
 

With already having secured a 70,8 per cent stake in New Zealand agribusiness Turners & Growers (T&G) the German group BayWa Aktiengesellschaft is reported to be nearing the finalization of taking control of the company.
 

BayWa also extended its offer for another month to attract minor shareholders as it awaits government approval.
 

The extension is likely aimed at bringing in smaller shareholders, who have not shown a great deal of interest in BayWa’s NZ$1.85 per share offer.
 

BayWa currently holds a 70.8 per cent stake in T&G, according to a filing with the New Zealand stock exchange.
 

The company is unlikely to push its holding up to the 90 per cent required for an automatic buyout of minority shareholders, with at least two able to keep BayWa from that target.
 

“Obviously the company will remain listed,” T&G’s managing director Jeff Wesley told Asiafruit Newsline recently. “Noboa, our banana partners, have no intention of selling their shares, which are 12.3 per cent, and Mr Apple appears to have gained rights to shares up to 10 per cent.”
 

BayWa has previously said it is happy to go ahead with less than a total holding in T&G.
 

The buyout is ultimately dependent now on approval from New Zealand’s Overseas Investment Board.
 

“We currently expect to get approval from the Overseas Investment Office in the second week of February,” Wesley predicted.  

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