Commerce Commission clears PGG Wrightson to sell seeds business

ComCom said the $434 million transaction was unlikely to substantially reduce competition. Photo / File

Correction: This article has been edited to clarify a gain on the sale of $120m, not $285m as earlier reported. Apologies for the error.

PGG Wrightson has been cleared to sell its seeds business to Denmark's DLF Seeds.

The Commerce Commission said the $434 million transaction, announced in August, was unlikely to substantially reduce competition in any of the markets it assessed.

"DLF is not at present a close competitor of PGG Wrightson Seeds in respect of ryegrass seeds containing endophytes and is unlikely to be so in the future," deputy chair Sue Begg said.

"Further, the merged entity would continue to be constrained by Barenbrug Agriseeds, and a number of smaller competitors."

Wrightson expected to book a gain of about $120m on the deal and signalled to investors it could return up to $292m to shareholders on completion, either through a buy-back or a share cancellation.

The proposal won almost 97 per cent support at a special meeting in October. The New Zealand Shareholders' Association opposed the transaction, saying the short-term gain for investors was offset by the remaining Wrightson operation being half the size and inferior to the seeds unit.