Deutsche Bank scoops up Dairy Board job

By Geoff Senescall and NZPA

The Dairy Board has given Deutsche Bank the plum job of assisting with its multi-billion dollar expansion plans.

The investment bank was one of four shortlisted for the job. But the mandate does not exclude others pitching for merger and acquisition business with the board.

In past statements the Dairy Board has said it wants to move the dairy industry over the next 10 years from one making $7 billion of sales a year to $40 billion. South-east Asia and Latin America are target areas.

A crucial factor in attaining the board's goal of being a pre-eminent milk company in the region is the creation of a mega co-op. Essentially the dairy industry wants to merge seven out of the country's nine remaining dairy cooperative companies and the Dairy Board. The merger would form the country's biggest company.

Bitter infighting has slowed this process down. But the hope is that the merger will be completed next year following recent personnel changes to the group driving the mega co-op.

As part of this restructuring process the Dairy Board has commissioned a valuation of its operations by Merrill Lynch and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

This will help set the exit price for those not wishing to be part of the mega co-op when the Dairy Board becomes part of the corporate entity.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Commission says it has again extended its timetable for a decision on the mega merger proposal.

Commission acting chairman Mark Berry said the commission's draft determination - giving the commission's preliminary view - had been delayed three weeks to August 27.

The commission was originally planning to publish a draft determination tomorrow, indicating the relevant issues and what further information it wants, as well as giving a preliminary view of whether it would authorise the application.

But Mr Berry said the postponement would mean the commission and interested parties would have time to consider fully new information to be provided by the Dairy Board and the manufacturing companies which own it.

Mr Berry said the applicants had yet to provide the commission with full details on what they would divest if they merged. This information was crucial to the commission's ability to assess the proposal.

Industry sources said it appeared there were problems with the initial proposal to strip out sufficient brands and products from the two big companies providing dairy foods to supermarkets - Mainland Products, owned by Kiwi Co-operative Dairies, and NZ Dairy Foods, owned by NZ Dairy Group - so that a stand-alone company could be spun off to provide competition.