Wrightson lodges takeover notice

Rural services company Wrightson has lodged formal notice of its intention to take over rival Williams & Kettle.

But in a statement to the stock exchange, the company said offer documents would not be mailed until "certain technical exemptions" from the Takeovers Code were obtained.

The Takeovers Panel had said the exemptions had been granted, but formal documentation and gazetting would be in the new year, the company said.

The formal offer would come as soon as this happened - possibly around January 20.

In a separate statement, Williams & Kettle acknowledged receipt of the takeover notice and said advisory company Grant Samuel had been appointed to provide an independent report on the merits of the proposed offer.

Wrightson is owned by Craig Norgate's Rural Portfolio Investments.

The company's $4.70-a-share bid values Williams & Kettle at nearly $105 million.

It follows a showdown between Wrightson and a Fonterra and Pyne Gould Guinness partnership.

Fonterra and Pyne Gould made a joint stand in the market for a cornerstone stake in Williams & Kettle, but Wrightson outbid the duo.

Wrightson chairman Keith Smith has described the offer as "friendly and aimed at ensuring that there is an orderly and logical process to achieve consolidation".

The success of the offer will ultimately hinge on wily corporate figure Sir Selwyn Cushing, a long-time director of Williams & Kettle, who holds a 19.9 per cent stake.

He is not allowed to sell his stake for another 12 months - a clause left over from a complex restructuring of the company's equity last year.

But if directors and shareholders decide they want the bid to succeed they can agree to waive that clause.

Former Fonterra boss Craig Norgate outflanked his old employer for the second time this year in securing pole position in the race to buy Williams & Kettle.

Rural Portfolio Investments' takeover of Wrightson was also interpreted as a victory over Fonterra, which had long held a cornerstone stake in the company but was eventually forced to sell to Norgate.

Norgate had been widely tipped to push for further rationalisation in rural services after the hostile takeover of Wrightson.

But the news that Fonterra had started bidding for Williams & Kettle prompted him to move earlier than planned.

In the past, Williams & Kettle had declined invitations to discuss mergers from its rural services rivals.

But after the bidding war, chief executive Paul Macfie said the arrival of a new cornerstone stake holder meant it was time to sit down and talk about the future.