Silver Fern Farms deal completed

Silver Fern Farms cooperative chair Rob Hewett says the completion of the $267m investment into Silver Fern Farms will be welcome news to shareholders and suppliers.

“This partnership is a genuine game-changer for Silver Fern Farms,” he says.

“It delivers a strong and sustainable capital structure, the resources to accelerate our plate to pasture strategy in selected global markets and the capital to invest in optimising our production facilities and capability. Importantly, it brings a collaborative and connected partner in the fastest growing red meat market in the world, China.

“We have had overwhelming support from our shareholders throughout this process, and we are excited by the opportunities this partnership with Shanghai Maling will provide.”

Shanghai Maling has invested $267m in cash in return for a 50% stake in Silver Fern Farms’ business (now named Silver Fern Farms Ltd). Of the $267m, $57m now resides with the cooperative, alongside the cooperative’s 50% holding in Silver Fern Farms Ltd.

In association with the transaction, the cooperative board intends to announce in coming weeks the process for the redemption of the about $5m of remaining supplier investment shares, and in January, the terms of the $35m special dividend for the holders of ordinary and rebate shares. Both are expected to be completed by the end of February 2017.

Silver Fern Farms Cooperative and Shanghai Maling have announced their director appointments for the board of Silver Fern Farms Limited, including two New Zealand resident directors by Shanghai Maling:

Appointed by Silver Fern Farms Co-operative:

• Rob Hewett (Co-Chair)

• Dan Jex-Blake

• Richard Young

• Jane Taylor

• Trevor Burt

Appointed by Shanghai Maling:

• Xia Xu Shen (Co-Chair)

• Gu Xiang Yi

• He Ru

• Sam Robinson

• Michael Schubert

Hewett welcomed Xu Shen Xia, the chairman of Shanghai Maling, as co-chair, who will take the director and co-chair role in place of Wei Ping Shen. “I am delighted with the calibre of the Board for the partnership. This is a strong board with a broad range of experiences across the red meat industry, farming, finance, investment, international business and board governance.”