The Notice of Meeting and Independent Report for the acquisition of 50 per cent of Silver Fern Farms by Shanghai Maling are revealing. The documents clearly show that the banks are playing a major role in the transaction and the shareholders’ agreement has a number of features that could be extremely disadvantageous to New Zealand shareholders.
First, a recap.
Silver Fern Farms Limited, which is 100 per cent owned by Silver Fern Farms Co-operative, is New Zealand’s largest livestock processing company with turnover in excess of $2 billion per annum.
