Listed fruit and produce exporter Turners & Growers is to make a full takeover bid for citrus fruit producer Kerifresh.
Turners is offering $2 a share in cash in a bid which values unlisted Kerikeri-based Kerifresh at $15.1 million.
Shareholders in Kerifresh had not received any dividends since
1992 and the company had performed poorly, frequently incurring losses, Turners said.
Turners chairman Tony Gibbs said Turners was the one business that could get synergy benefits from Kerifresh.
"We're heavily in the industry, we sell lemons, we sell mandarins, we sell all the ground crops they produce and we sell kiwifruit," Gibbs said.
Turners' share price closed unchanged at $2.30 yesterday.
Kerifresh chief executive Alan Thompson said: "The company's directors are just starting to confer on the subject and we've got nothing really to say at all at the moment, except that we've received the offer."
Gibbs said the offer would be conditional on Turners - which already held or controlled 4.6 per cent - controlling more than half of the voting rights.
"If we don't get 50 per cent there's no offer because we're not allowed to keep anything under the rules and we want to be in a position of influence."
Gibbs could not rule out redundancies but said there were no plans to lay off staff if the takeover was successful.
"There's not going to be wholesale firing of people or anything like that. The growing industry doesn't work like that."
Pre-tax profit at Turners for the year ending December 31, excluding a one-off gain from the sale of a Hastings cool store, jumped 38 per cent to $22.2 million following stronger export apple prices.
Gibbs did not rule out making bids for other companies in the sector.
"We've always got our eyes open for new opportunities. But we are a cautious company."
Turners &Amp;Growers
* Distributor, marketer and exporter of fresh produce.
* Fruit and vegetable importer.
* Cool store and transport operator.
Kerifresh
* Among the largest citrus fruit producers in the country.
* Main crops of lemons, mandarins and kiwifruit.
* Orchards in Kerikeri, procurement from other regions.
The Offer
* Turners will offer $2 cash for each Kerifresh share.
* The offer values the company at $15.1 million.
* Conditional on more than 50 per cent control.
