What Would Synlait Be Worth to Fonterra or a2 Milk?
Speculation of a possible joint move by Fonterra and a2 Milk to buy Synlait raises a much bigger strategic question, says agribusiness expert Dr Nic Lees.
The listed company recently decided to offload two cheese companies it had only purchased two years ago.
Now, the biggest shareholder - Bright Dairy of China - is ringing changes to its board representatives. It's replacing two of its four board members. Bright Dairy owns 39% of Synlait and the company's financial woes in recent years would be concerning to the Chinese conglomerate.
The company's two new board members will be chief financial officer Liu 'Ryan' Ruibing and vice president Zhu 'Julia' Yi. It has four seats on the Synlait board.
