MUNICH--()--The Overseas Investment Office (OIO), New Zealand's regulatory authority dealing with foreign investment, today approved the majority takeover of Turners & Growers Ltd (T&G) by BayWa AG. With official approval now granted, the public takeover tender offer submitted to the shareholders of T&G by BayWa AG in November 2011 is effective. The German Federal Cartel Office had already given its approval at a prior date. Compensation for the sum total of 72.5 percent of the shares in T&G tendered to date comes to around NZ$ 157 million. Although the tender offer period for the shareholders still runs until 7 March 2012, the transaction can go ahead as planned now that the OIO approval has been granted. The takeover is a ground-breaking step towards internationalization for BayWa. In the future, BayWa’s CEO, Klaus Josef Lutz, will take over the chair of T&G’s Board of Directors. Additional members of the board will be Andreas Helber, BayWa’s Chief Financial Officer, Dr. Josef Krapf, BayWa’s Board Member responsible for the Agriculture and Fruit business units, and Dietmar Bahler, head of the Fruit business unit.
In November 2011, BayWa announced its intention of acquiring 63 percent of all T&G shares formerly held by the Guinness Peat Group plc (London). At the same time, the Munich-based company made an offer to all the other shareholders as part of a tender offer under New Zealand law to buy their T&G shares for NZ$ 1.85 per share.
The takeover of the majority holding in T&G will enable BayWa to become a global player in the supply of pome fruit. BayWa is pleased with the outcome of the transaction to date. "The existing shareholders that still remain on board now are expecting T&G – and therefore its share price – to continue to develop well with BayWa's involvement. This shows their confidence in us as the new majority shareholder", stated Klaus Josef Lutz, BayWa's Chief Executive Officer. He added that BayWa intended to foster a cooperation based on trust with shareholders and that the company intends to build up a close cooperation with New Zealand's fruit producers. "The relationship with the producers is very important to us as they are the backbone of T&G. Trust and the capacity for development are key factors in setting up a global platform for T&G", emphasised Lutz. He believes that Asia will be T&G's largest growth market for fresh fruit. According to Lutz, the participation in T&G will enable BayWa to deliver throughout the whole year. He stated that the fruit farmers who work together with BayWa in Germany will therefore also benefit from the T&G takeover, as the opportunity of selling their products in a global market has improved.
T&G is New Zealand's leading distributor, marketer and exporter of premium fresh produce. In addition, the company holds the exclusive brand rights for the global cultivation and sale of the Jazz and Envy apple varieties as well as the ENZAGreen, ENZAGold and ENZARed kiwi varieties. Moreover, T&G has a 70 percent stake in Delica Limited, New Zealand's largest exporter of fresh fruit and sole exporter of ENZA dessert fruit to Asia. T&G operates as a trading platform for apples in South America, USA, South Africa, Asia and Europe.