Silver Fern plans 50:50 deal with Chinese
Silver Fern Farms' board plans a 50:50 partnership with China's leading meat processor Shanghai Maling, a listed company based in Shanghai, owned 38% by Bright Food Group.
Crafar Farms are in receivership. The Crafar Farms Purchase Group lodged a $171.5 million bid for the Crafar family farms in September, as a back-up to a rival offer from Shanghai Pengxin being turned down by the OIO.
Group spokesman Alan McDonald says it has retained leading QC Alan Galbraith and law firm Bell Gully, to lead a legal challenge should the OIO recommend approving the Shanghai Pengxin deal.
"The legal approach seems to be the only avenue to bring some transparency to the application information and the process behind the approval," says McDonald. "Without legal action we will never know how the OIO reached their recommendation to approve the sale of the farms.
"The Overseas Investment Act does not permit consent to be granted for the acquisition of farm land by overseas persons with no relevant farming expertise. Shanghai Pengxin is a construction and property development company that has no expertise in dairy farming. The Chinese are passive investors relying on Landcorp to add the farming component."
Bell Gully partner, David Cooper says a letter has been sent to the OIO advising them of the commitment to seek Judicial Review and asking for a copy of the Shanghai Pengxin application for consent or other relevant information.
"We need timely access to the relevant information held by the OIO to protect the opportunity for our clients to exercise their rights to seek judicial review of the recommendation made under the Overseas Investment Act. Our request was sent to the OIO on January 9 and we've heard nothing since," says Cooper.
The Crafar Farms Purchase Group consists of 10 independent buyers, including the Tiroa E and Te Hape B Trusts (represented by Hardie Peni) and Sir Michael Fay, who all have dairy farming interests in the Central North Island. The Group has come together as the receiver insists on selling the farms in one package. Each farmer in the Group has been allocated the properties they have an interest in buying with no farmer seeking more than two farms.
Receivers KordaMentha have given Pengxin a final deadline of January 31 to go unconditional on the 16 North Island farms. Pengxin is waiting on OIO approval to buy the farms.
