The South Island-based Talley family is extending its offer for Affco Holdings Ltd, the only meat processor listed on the NZX.Talley's Group Ltd is offering 37 cents a share. It had 52.8% of the company before it launched the offer and a pre-bid agreement
The South Island-based Talley family is extending its offer for Affco Holdings Ltd, the only meat processor listed on the NZX.
Talley's Group Ltd is offering 37 cents a share. It had 52.8% of the company before it launched the offer and a pre-bid agreement with Toocooya Nominees Ltd increased that to 76.2%.
The closing date for the offer is now being extended from September 6 to September 20. This changes the date by which the bid can be declared unconditional to October 14.
The latest substantial shareholder notice gives the Talley family, which has extensive fishing interests, 77.02% of Affco.
Affco owns 44% of Dairy Trust, the owner of independent cheese maker Open Country Cheese, which Fonterra regards as a competitor for domestic milk supply. Another key stake is held by Singapore-based commodities dealer Olam International, which has 25%.
Founded in 1904 as the Auckland Farmers Freezing Co-operative exporting meat to Britain, Affco Holdings listed in 1995 after a debt restructure and a 100 million public share offer at 50c. Its share price has seesawed from 52c on listing day to a miserable low of 15c in December 2002.
In October 2001 Talley's bought 10% of the company for 29.6c a share, a year after being beaten to a stake in Hawke's Bay's Richmond by Dunedin meat cooperative PPCS, now known as Silver Fern Farms.
In 2006 it boosted its stake to over 50%, offering 39c when an independent valuation was for a price between 35c and 45c.
Toocooya didn't accept that offer from Talley's, complaining that it didn't fully reflect the company's underlying value. It also said in 2006 that Affco's future earnings and value "are potentially significantly higher than an analysis of the company's recent financial results would indicate".
Affco employs more than 2800 people, at plants in the Bay of Islands (Moerewa), Waikato (Horotiu), Bay of Plenty (Rangiruru), Hawke's Bay (Wairoa), Wanganui (Imlay), and Feilding (Manawatu). It has a joint venture with South Pacific Meats at Motueka (Awarua) and hide plants at Napier and Wiri.
