By LIAM DANN
Graeme Hart's New Zealand Dairy Foods yesterday called off planned court action and agreed to sell its stake in Kapiti Cheeses to United Milk for $5.67 a share.
The decision ends a month-long standoff between the billionaire and the tiny gourmet cheese company.
The Kapiti Cheeses board was unhappy when
Dairy Foods bought a 10.3 per cent stake last month at $3.75 - outside the formal tender process.
The board said Dairy Foods' move undermined the sale process, and directors proposed a constitution change that would have lowered the compulsory acquisition threshold from 90 to 75 per cent.
Dairy Foods indicated it would seek an injunction to stop a special meeting scheduled for Friday to vote on the issue.
Kapiti chairman John Butterfield said that meeting had now been cancelled because it no longer served any purpose.
He said Kapiti had urged shareholders sell to Palmerston North-based United Milk, which had offered $15 million for 100 per cent of the company - the best return for all shareholders
