The leader of a new grower-owned wool co-operative says he hopes changes to Wool Partners Co-operative's prospectus will persuade farmers lift their investment to the threshold required to get the venture under way.
The farming leader helming a new grower-owned wool co-operative says he hopes that changes to Wool Partners Co-operative's prospectus will persuade farmers to lift their investment to the threshold required to get the venture under way.
The two main concerns raised were over financial payments and the release of more financial detail, Wool Partners chairman Jeff Grant said. These matters had been addressed in an amended prospectus being sent to farmers over the next couple of days, with new financial projections to 2012, he told NZPA.
"We think that will bring forward more members, especially the farms where estates, family corporates and trusts such as Maori incorporations asked for longer periods in which to make their payments," he said. "This will be a much more attractive proposition than in the original prospectus."
Sheep farmers have been asked to buy shares in Wool Partners at of a cost of $1 a kilogram of annual production -- paid over time -- but so far subscriptions for only 35 million $1 shares have been received.
The original November 30 target of 65 million shares represented about half the nation's greasy wool clip of 130 million kilograms.
The cooperative last week announced a second extension of its offer to February 16, but Mr Grant said directors, at the request of growers, had now retained a right to go ahead at a lesser number of shares, but not less than 55 million.
"The target is still $65 million, but we've said that if we fell short of the $65m -- but above $55m -- and we were reasonably confident of the commitments which would come in the following 12 months, we would give serious consideration to it," he said. "Our preference is to do the $65 million -- we would feel much more comfortable about that."
Other changes include revising the start date to April 1.
