Shareholder Revolt Over Silver Fern Farms China Sale
Shareholder Revolt Over Silver Fern Farms China Sale
Silver Fern Farms Board has been caught misleading the media by claiming that shareholders had no concerns while it was being petitioned for a Special Annual General Meeting regarding its proposed sale to Shanghai Maling.
“Silver Fern’s chair, Rob Hewett, has badly boxed himself into a corner,” says New Zealand First Leader and Member of Parliament for Northland Rt Hon Winston Peters.
“How could Mr Hewett tell Farmers Weekly with a straight face that ‘no shareholders had raised concerns with the vote process’, when a sizeable percentage of shareholders had ‘requisitioned’ a Special Annual General Meeting?
“Yet again the media and shareholders are being led down the garden path that’s typified this ‘deal’ from the start. It shouldn’t need disgruntled shareholders reaching into their own pocket to defend their rights but that’s what it has come to.
“No amount of bluster can hide the fact that folding 100% of the co-op’s assets into a new entity is anything but a Major Transaction. If this deal is allowed to stand then frankly the Companies Act and shareholder protections are an ass.
“This shareholder requisition provides yet more grounds for why the Overseas Investment Office must suspend its determination,” Mr Peters said.
On 18 April, New Zealand First lodged complaints with both the Financial Markets Authority and the Companies Office Registries Integrity and Enforcement Team relating to the proposed sale of Silver Fern Farms to Shanghai Maling. On 19 April 2016, copies of these complaints were delivered to the Overseas Investment Office, the Takeovers Panel and the Commerce Commission.
ENDS