By PHILIPPA STEVENSON agricultural editor
A Zespri shareholder vote tomorrow on a capital-raising plan should send a message to the Government about growers' desire to keep control of their industry.
Katikati growers Allan Dawson and Alan Sutherland forced under-capitalised Zespri to call the meeting to reconsider a share offer endorsed by growers
in June because they feared a corporate raid.
The monopoly kiwifruit marketer was re-regulated on April 1, establishing Zespri with similar structures to apple marketer Enza, which was recently taken over by Guinness Peat Group (GPG) and FR Partners.
Yesterday, after a round of grower meetings, Mr Dawson was confident new shareholding proposals would gain the necessary 75 per cent vote. "What we really want is a good turnout and a solid vote because that will give the message to the politicians, and to some extent Zespri, that all the growers are 100 per cent behind this move, that they have exercised their grower control power, and that there can be no doubt they wish to be heard and keep that [controlling] position."
Zespri, with revenue of around $700 million but equity of just over $4 million, planned to increase capital to $15 million through shares by the end of the financial year.
Mr Dawson and Mr Sutherland suggested non-voting, redeemable preference shares would be a safer option, by making it harder for raiders to buy "overhang" shares, or those that were not taken up by growers. However, in "amicable and constructive discussions" with Zespri a new proposal had been developed which was better than the original concept, Mr Dawson said.
The "quite marvellous" new plan, he said, would result in a corporate structure but a cooperative-type voting system.
In a letter to growers, Zespri chairman Doug Voss said the proposal was based on shares having voting rights up to a cap based on each shareholder's share of total production.
Leasing orchards to qualify as growers, as GPG and FR did in the apple industry, would be much harder to achieve under Zespri's suggested constitutional changes.
The industry had long sought the model but it could not be achieved in the political climate at the time of corporatisation, he said.
Zespri has postponed its capital-raising share offer until early next year, but tomorrow in Tauranga will seek approval to raise $16 million through the issue of partly paid shares called over three years.
