By Philippa Stevenson
New Dairy Group chairman Henry Van Der Heyden has gained the hottest seat in an industry fired up over the shock resignation of the popular Doug Leeder.
The relatively little-known Mr Van Der Heyden, a company director for only seven years, stepped up from his year-long deputy's position yesterday
as some shareholders began a petition to force the company to explain its actions.
Farmers contacted by the Business Herald universally believed Mr Leeder had been ousted in a coup after Dairy Group, Kiwi and Northland directors reached a compromise over the contentious share structure of the proposed mega co-op.
But last night, after a day spent negotiating merger terms with Kiwi and Northland, Mr Van Der Heyden said it was "absolutely not" true that he would lead Dairy Group away from the mega co-op plan.
He was very committed to it "as are all the directors of the company".
It needed to be remembered that the mega co-op was set up to pursue the industry strategy "which our company signed off on", he said.
Waikato farming leader Kevin Wooding said many shareholders did not accept that Mr Leeder quit for personal reasons and would not let the matter lie.
"Stability is what we want. With so many things up in the air, this almost smacks of irresponsibility," he said.
It is understood concessions made by Dairy Group to establish the mega co-op were too much for several directors, who agreed with the parting message of dumped director and Dairy Board chairman John Storey that the recommended structure was a package deal that could not be cherry-picked.
Mr Leeder was out because he was not tough enough and the board was now in the hands of directors keen for Dairy Group to go it alone.
Yesterday, a source close to Mr Leeder confirmed that his consensus leadership style was unpopular with a significant percentage of the 17-member board of New Zealand's seventh biggest company.
He had instigated a two-day retreat in Rotorua last Thursday and Friday aimed at enhancing teamwork, but instead his chairmanship came under fire.
The source confirmed a personal situation was involved in Mr Leeder's departure but "basically he handed them an excuse on a plate".
Mr Leeder quit the chairmanship of a board reluctant to vote him off, the source said.
Mr Van Der Heyden said the momentum was picking up in the merger talks.
