Wednesday, 14 February 2024 09:46

Board upheaval at PGW

Written by  Sudesh Kissun
The board of PGG Wrightson will hold a special meeting demanded by its largest shareholder. The board of PGG Wrightson will hold a special meeting demanded by its largest shareholder.

The board of rural trader PGG Wrightson Limited has agreed to call a special meeting demanded by its largest shareholder.

In a NZX filing yesterday afternoon, PGW says it will issue a notice of meeting at the relevant time together with appropriate information for shareholders about the matters to be addressed at the meeting.

Agria Singapore, which holds a 44% stake in PGW, is seeking a special shareholders meeting where it wants to overhaul the PGW board – removing directors Garry Moore, Sarah Brown and Charlotte Severne. It is proposing to appoint former PGW chairman Alan Lai, Wilson Liu, Vena Crawley and Traci Houpapa as new directors.

PGW says following receipt of the notice on the afternoon of 8 February 2024 PGW promptly sought to engage with Agria in relation to the matters outlined in the notice and sought advice from its external lawyers, Chapman Tripp.

“The PGW board convened on 12 February and 13 February to discuss the notice and has continued to liaise with Agria to explore whether Agria would withdraw the request to enable a more constructive board transition to take place.

“Following further dialogue today, Agria has this afternoon confirmed that it will not withdraw the notice requesting that a special shareholders meeting be convened and accordingly PGW is preparing for a shareholders meeting.”

Lai, founder of Agria Corporation, stepped down from the PGW board in 2018, following investigation for alleged securities law breaches in Singapore.

More like this

Drones, AI making cattle counting a dream

PGG Wrightson has launched a new stock-counting service using drones and Artificial Intelligence (AI), which it says removes all the hassle for farmers, while achieving 99.9% accuracy.

Start of a turnaround?

In another sign of improving agribusiness sentiment, two listed companies have lifted their forecast earnings for the year.

IHC calf & rural scheme making a difference

South Island agribusinesses Ngai Tahu Farming and PGG Wrightson were able to see first-hand the fruits of their continued support of IHC recently when members of IHC’s North Canterbury Kapa Haka ropu performed at Ngai Tahu’s Te Whenua Hou farm in North Canterbury.

Featured

Being a rural vet is ‘fantastic’

Everyone from experienced veterinarians and young professionals to the Wormwise programme and outstanding clinics have been recognised in this year’s New Zealand Veterinary Association Te Pae Kīrehe (NZVA) awards.

National

Helping protect sheep from parasites

Everyone from experienced veterinarians and young professionals to the Wormwise programme and outstanding clinics have been recognised in this year’s…

Machinery & Products

Farmer-led group buys Novag

While the name and technology remain unchanged and new machines will continue to carry the Novag name, all the assets,…

Buhler name to go

Shareholders at a special meeting have approved a proposed deal that will see Buhler Industries, the publicly traded Versatile and…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Make it 1000%!

OPINION: The appendage swinging contest between the US and China continues, with China hitting back with a new rate of…

Own goal

OPINION: The irony of President Trump’s tariff obsession is that the worst damage may be done to his own people.

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter