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The Silver Fern Farms/Shanghai Maling joint venture proposal is getting nastier the longer it drags out.
The drama is not helped by the company's often off-hand dismissal of some shareholders' concerns about the deal and recent delay in getting Overseas Investment Office approval for the deal to be finalised.
Until OIO and the relevant ministers decide, the process is stalled in a vacuum swirling with rumour and innuendo. The longer this plays out the more conspiracy theories and wild claims will be made by the dissidents.
Clearly a minority group of disgruntled shareholders, in cahoots with NZ First, are determined to overturn the deal at all costs, arguing that their concerns centre purely on process and legal aspects. In fact they just don't like it, but they lack the intestinal fortitude and courage of their convictions to say this outright.
Reports by the Financial Markets Authority and the Companies Office, over the validity of the Silver Fern Farms resolution process and its directors' actions , should have dispelled these disgruntled shareholders' case but, like political blowhards in New Zealand First, they dismiss these investigations as not having produced the result they wanted.
The blistering arrogance of this small minority underlies their mistaken belief in a right to overturn the wishes of the overwhelming majority of SFF shareholders – the 82% (at least) who bothered to vote last October in favour of the joint venture.
More proof of the depths this disgruntled minority will dive to is seen in their putting about unattributed, unidentified media claims out of Australia that Shanghai Maling wants to pull out of the deal. This is the same kind of 'reputable' Australian media scuttlebutt that falsely claimed a few weeks ago that Fonterra was showing Theo Spierings the door.
SFF and Shanghai Maling insist they are committed to this venture and so it seems are the silent majority of SFF shareholders. It is time the majority told the vocal minority, in no uncertain terms, to pack up their tents and get out of the company if they are so unhappy.
Should OIO and ministerial approval be granted, the board of SFF would have no option but to honour the contract with Shanghai Maling, provided all agreed contractual obligations are met. The risk of not doing so would cost SFF and its shareholders a lot of money and you can guarantee the disaffected 5% wouldn't stump up with costs.
As dairy farmers lock in plans for the upcoming mating season, a partnership between Fonterra and Silver Fern Farms has been formed with the aim of making it simpler to create additional value from calves not entering the replacement herd.
Applications for Silver Fern Farms Co-operative's next board-appointed farmer director are open.
Silver Fern Farms has tackled the ongoing war-induced shipping challenges to mideast markets by airlifting 90 tonnes of chilled New Zealand lamb and beef to the United Arab Emirates.
Silver Fern Farms has successfully produced and delivered 90 tonnes of premium chilled New Zealand lamb and beef to the United Arab Emirates via airfreight.
Silver Fern Farms has announced a major capital investment valued at over $100 million to redevelop freezing, cold storage, and automation facilities at its Finegand Site near Balclutha.
The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (the College) and Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network are calling for investment in a proposed new training pathway for rural GPs, warning that many rural practices are struggling to recruit while a large share of the existing workforce nears retirement.
Federated Farmers has called on Central Otago District Council (CODC) to drop or vote down a plan to truck sludge from Alexandra and Cromwell to farmland near Lauder, warning it would compound an "outrageous" situation created by a separate council's decision weeks earlier.
Synlait has swung to second-half profit as operations stabilise, but the dairy processor still posted a $75.4m annual loss.
LIC shareholders have elected a new North Island representative to the co-operative's Board, along with five representatives to its Shareholder Reference Group (SRG), following the company's Annual Meeting held in Invercargill.
Farmers across parts of Southland and South Otago are continuing to deal with difficult conditions after a prolonged run of wet weather, with pressure building around feed supply, stock management, pasture damage, farm infrastructure and everyday workloads.
Federated Farmers says it welcomes Labour's commitment to reviewing the Sharemilking Agreements Act, calling on other major parties to do the same.
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