Gibbs coup attempt fails to topple Enza chairman

By PHILIPPA STEVENSON and NZPA

Former Enza chairman Tony Gibbs has made an abortive bid to regain the pipfruit exporter's top job at the expense of one-time investor colleague Bill Birnie.

In a surprise move at the annual meeting in Nelson on Tuesday, Mr Gibbs, of major Enza corporate shareholder Guinness Peat Group (GPG), urged shareholders not to re-elect Mr Birnie, and fellow directors Brian D'Ath and Richard Hill.

The three had stood down by rotation under the company's constitution but sought re-election.

Last August, during the protracted battle between the company and its supplier-shareholders over responsibility for the company's foreign exchange losses, Mr Birnie, of Enza's other major corporate shareholder, FR Partners, deposed Mr Gibbs and took over as chairman.

Mr Gibbs stayed on as a director and this week's move would have put him back in the leading role among the remaining directors, who include GPG-appointed chief executive Michael Dossor.

Hawkes Bay pipfruit growers spokesman Jonathan Wiltshire said the three directors were re-elected by a narrow margin, thanks mainly to his "fistful of proxies".

Mr Wiltshire said Mr Gibbs had previously expressed concern that Mr Birnie had discussed selling FR Partners' shares to Pipfruit Growers NZ during the forex debacle.

"We had no inkling the rift was so deep," he said

FR Partners and GPG worked in concert in 2000 to get effective control of Enza, buying or leasing orchards and purchasing growers' shares until between them they had nearly 40 per cent of the then near-monopoly apple marketer.

Yesterday, Mr Birnie was unavailable and Mr Gibbs declined comment on the annual meeting confrontation.

Mr Wiltshire said he was disappointed the matter had also exposed a division between the major apple-growing regions of Nelson and Hawkes Bay. Few Hawkes Bay growers could attend the meeting because of its timing so close to harvest and without the proxies entrusted to him the election could have gone against the wishes of the majority.

The meeting did vote by a considerable majority to change Enza's constitution so that its shares could be fully tradeable - bringing the company in line with the producer board deregulation process.

Shareholders will no longer have to own an orchard to retain their shares, and the company is positioned to list on the Stock Exchange.

The two corporates are likely to gain the most from any jump in share value.

"Having no restrictions on share ownership means shares are more likely to trade at their full market value," Mr Birnie said.

The change had significant value implications for shareholders, and orchardists should seek independent advice before making any decisions on the future of their holdings, he warned. There were no immediate plans to list Enza.