In October last year, SFF farmers gave overwhelming support for Shanghai Maling's $261 million investment in New Zealand's largest meat processor. However, a group of minority shareholders – led by English businessman and high country runholder John Shrimpton and Canterbury ram breeder Blair Gallagher – unhappy with the deal, fought to get it overturned and forced a re-vote.
This month's special meeting saw another huge mandate given by shareholders who favour the joint venture. In both votes, in excess of 80% of SFF shareholders have backed the merger. Whatever the motivations of the Shrimpton/Gallagher dissident group, they now must accept this majority decision of shareholders and move on. Shrimpton, who pledged to shake the hand of SFF chairman Rob Hewett if his bid to stop the deal failed, has done just that.
While the vast majority of SFF farmers may have been frustrated and annoyed by the delay and costs incurred by the dissident shareholders move, that, as Hewett says, is the price of democracy. Farmers still unhappy with the deal can send their livestock to another processor.
But it must now be said frankly that SFF farmers' anger may rightly be directed at the shady and underhand political opportunism of outside voices – with no right to be involved, in any way, in the dealings of a privately owned company – namely Winston Peters and others. Peters and his cohorts have tried to inject themselves into the debate by stirring up conspiracy theories, xenophobia and outrageous untruths in an effort to promote their own agendas.
Farmers would do well to remember these antics, especially at the ballot box next year.
Meantime, all that remains for the merger to go ahead is the stamp of approval from the Overseas Investment Office and the Government.
SFF is confident the deal will clear all the hurdles to get the OIO tick of approval. If it does, we may expect this new joint venture to be the game-changer for the industry its proponents claim it will be, and that it will realise its market potential by means of the Chinese company's connections and expertise.
Hewett says the new partnership will create a strong Silver Fern Farms. Let's hope it does because the red meat industry needs a game-changer.
- Silver Fern Farms
- SFF
- SHANGHAI MALING
