fbpx
Print this page
Tuesday, 09 July 2019 09:55

They knew the terms – Chairman

Written by 
Westland chair Pete Morrison. Westland chair Pete Morrison.

Westland chair Pete Morrison has reiterated the terms under which protesting former suppliers had surrendered their shares that they say are worth millions.

A group of former suppliers of Westland Milk Products has formally asked the Overseas Investment Office to block or delay the sale to Yili until they are paid millions of dollars owed to them for previously surrendering their shares. Read more here.

He said in a statement, “It is important to note that the individuals concerned knew of the conditions and terms of payment of their unsecured debt when they surrendered their shares. 

“If the scheme is approved and the shares in Westland are transferred, Westland remains fully liable for these liabilities (as for all other liabilities) and the timing for payment and all other terms of payment for these individuals’ liabilities remain the same as before.”

The farmers making the approach to the OIO are all in Canterbury. 

The group’s spokesman, Pete Williams, said that “true blue” Westland suppliers on the Coast didn’t have the same option of swapping supply. 

“I suspect many of them would have, actually.”

“We’ve followed Westland pretty closely for the last few years. You know there was a lot of commercial risk for us to supply Westland. We took a lot of interest in the preceding three years before we made our decision to leave.”

Speaking before the shareholders’ vote on whether to accept the Yili offer, Williams predicted the deal would go through. Times were tough, with a lot of financial pressure, pressure from their banks and a milk price that meant they were probably losing money.

More like this

Top dairy CEO quits

Arguably one of the country's top dairy company's chief executives, Richard Wyeth has abruptly quit Chinese owned Westland Milk Products (WMP)

Wrong, again!

OPINION: This old mutt well remembers the wailing, whining and gnashing of teeth by former West Coast MP and Labour Agriculture Minister Damian O’Connor when Chineseowned Yili took over the troubled dairy company Westland Milk a few years back.

Milk price certainty

Westland Milk has reaffirmed its commitment to pay farmer suppliers 10c above Fonterra farm gate milk price for the following two seasons.

Featured

Horticulture exports hit $8.4B, surge toward $10B by 2029

A brilliant result and great news for growers and regional economies. That's how horticulture sector leaders are describing the news that sector exports for the year ended June 30 will reach $8.4 billion - an increase of 19% on last year and is forecast to hit close to $10 billion in 2029.

National

Machinery & Products

Farming smarter with technology

The National Fieldays is an annual fixture in the farming calendar: it draws in thousands of farmers, contractors, and industry…