Alliance Group’s farmer shareholders have voted in favour of selling a 65% stake in their co-operative to Irish meat company Dawn Meats for $270 million.
Once the final regulatory and legal steps required were obtained, the new joint venture would become operational and the transaction completed in mid-December.
The transaction required a minimum of 75% shareholder acceptance of those who vote, and greater than 50% of the total shareholding voting yes.
A special shareholder meeting was held in Invercargill on Monday and 2675 shareholders voted, representing 92,495,558 shares, or more than 88% of all shares on issue. Of those, more than 87% voted in favour of the proposal.
In a statement, Alliance chairman Mark Wynne said the result demonstrated strong farmer confidence in the company’s future direction.
"Our farmer-shareholders have given a clear mandate for Alliance to move forward in partnership with Dawn Meats. This is a vote of trust in our people, our operations and our vision.
“We’re really excited about the potential for this partnership and what the future holds for Alliance and Dawn.
“This essential investment will strengthen our financial position, enhance our operational capability and enable us to capture more value in market for our farmers and the country.
“Importantly, the agreement also preserves farmer ownership, with a continuing 35% shareholding and strong governance rights," he said.
Alliance had a deadline of December 19 to repay $188m of bank debt and the board has previously said it would be obligated to enter into a process led by its banking syndicate which might involve possible asset sales, site closures and further cost-reduction initiatives if the Dawn deal was not supported.
Yesterday, Mr Wynne said the board explored every option to secure Alliance’s future and the Dawn Meats proposal stood out as the best strategic and financial path forward.
He thanked shareholders for their trust and confidence and the Alliance team "for achieving a remarkable turnaround".
"The future looks much brighter than it did 12 months ago. We’re looking forward to getting down to work," he said.
Dawn Meats chief executive Niall Browne said the company already had a strong operations network in Ireland, the United Kingdom and in the EU.
Having the ability to create year-round supply for its customers between the northern and southern hemispheres was a fantastic opportunity and one that customers were already responding to, he said.
Dawn Meats is a family-owned business established in 1980 and now has more than €3 billion in annual revenue and employs more than 8000 staff in 10 countries. It exports to more than 50 countries.
Trading as Dunbia in the UK and Dawn Meats in Ireland, the combined businesses process about 1million cattle and 3.5 million sheep annually.
