Turners Growers T&G Jeff Wesley 2011

Jeff Wesley

Following the BayWa takeover of Turners & Growers, do you expect to remain in the same role as managing director?

JW: I don’t expect to see any change. The indication at this stage is that BayWa intend to support and carry on with Turners & Growers’ growth strategy. From a management perspective we don’t expect any change.

There’s been no conversation at all about `staff changes`, other than indications about their intentions early on.


Do you know if BayWa has any particular strategic goals in mind for Turners & Growers?

JW: The takeover gives BayWa a global reach which they don’t currently have, and they’re very big in apples, so there’s a great deal of synergy.

There’s a focus on Asia, there’s a focus on apples.

We have particular strategy on the structure of the New Zealand apple and kiwifruit industry. We think BayWa will possibly support that strategy, which is a rationalisation of supply.

At this stage we presume they will continue to support Turners & Growers’ strategy of kiwifruit deregulation.

GPG was never a long-term shareholder, they only stayed on for so many year because Tony Gibbs was a grower and was happy to get on with it. So we’re quite happy for BayWa, which is an agricultural company, and has been involved in apples for a long time, we’re happy about them potentially becoming a shareholder. They come from the same industry as we do, as opposed to a private equity investor.


When will things move forward from this point?

JW: If it goes through, the next step is that the Turners & Growers directors have to get an independent valuation done, which will take two to three weeks, then the board will recommend to shareholders whether or not they should accept the offer. So nothing much will happen for at least three weeks.

Then it also requires the Overseas Investment Office approval. Because we have quite a lot of property assets around the country, the OIO will have to see if any of those are strategically important, which will take some time. I don’t think they will be, but they have to check.

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