By PHILIPPA STEVENSON
Fonterra's botched second bid for dairy cooperative Westland Milk Products has galvanised the independent-minded West Coasters into rare total agreement.
Westland farmer shareholders yesterday unanimously rejected the repeated offer to be absorbed into the giant Fonterra.
The total rejection improves on last May's already resounding vote in which 95.4
per cent of Westland shareholders elected to stay outside Fonterra, the world's fourth-largest dairy company.
Fonterra's handling of its second bid, in which it criticised Westland directors, appears to have been the uniting factor.
About 260 of the company's 335 shareholders voted at yesterday's meeting, some after having travelled long distances.
One industry commentator described Fonterra's effect on the West Coasters as "the Monteith's lesson unlearned", a reference to last year's public outcry which forced DB Breweries to reverse a decision to close Greymouth's Monteith's Brewery.
Westland acting chief executive Hugh Little said the decision was the biggest in the company's history.
A majority in favour of going it alone was so inevitable that voting papers were not used and the vote was taken on a show of hands.
"When we put it to 'those against', there were certainly no hands raised," he said.
"It is a fairly clear mandate that our shareholders are behind our board of directors," he said.
Westland's 2.8 per cent of national dairy production may be small compared to Fonterra's 96 per cent, but dairying is the region's single biggest earner and its biggest employer.
The company's $211 million turnover ranks it among the country's largest businesses and it has a $60 million milk powder plant expansion due to be commissioned in August.
Westland chairman Ian Robb was certain being taken over by Fonterra would cost jobs and force the closure of the butter factory.
He also believed Fonterra's bid could be driven by reluctance to part with Westland's estimated $84 million worth of shares in the Dairy Board.
Yesterday's decision showed shareholders wanted the right to grow their business, he said. "We now have to perform."
Westland can now take up the benefit of its shares in the Dairy Board, which will disappear with the formation of Fonterra.
Macquarie Bank valued the shares at $3.51 each, but the board made a distribution last year, leaving a balance of around $3.31 to be paid out to the independent companies, Westland and Tatua.
Westland stands to get around $84 million on the present valuation and Tatua around $26 million.
The companies have the right to invoke an arbitration clause and seek a review of the valuation. Spokesmen for both firms said decision would be made this week.
