Sale of Richmond Waitotara

Wednesday, 25 February 2004, 6:20 pm
Press Release: Richmond Limited

Media Statement

Richmond Limited's CEO, Richard Carver, announced today that Richmond and Canterbury Meat Packers (CMP) have failed to reach agreement for the sale of Richmond's Waitotara lamb processing plant.

Due diligence was extended to 20 February to allow both parties to explore every possibility with the aim being to reach agreement for the sale of the Waitotara plant. It is disappointing that after all this effort both parties have failed to reach agreement.

As a result of no agreement being reached it is almost certain that additional processing capacity will now be added to the North Island. This will potentially lead to further rationalisation in the North Island in the years ahead.

Under Richmond's new Sheepmeats leadership through Steve Murphy, the focus will continue on bringing performance improvements throughout our sheepmeats business. We are naturally working with plant management, unions and the local communities to ensure that Richmond is well positioned to meet the challenges that additional competition will bring.

We look forward to getting on with the job of servicing our farmer suppliers and improving our performance.

ENDS

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