turners growers baywa

Reports in New Zealand have revealed that Christchurch-based company Scales has opted to increase its stake in Turners & Growers (T&G) to 10.3 per cent, thus preventing German group BayWa Aktiengesellschaft (BayWa)from taking overall control.

According to TVNZ, Scales has upped its share in T&G by a further 4.3 per cent, adding to the 6 per cent stake it purchased from ACC last year. BayWa, whichcurrently controls 71.8 per cent of shares, requires 90 per cent to automatically trigger a buyout of minority shareholders under the New Zealand Takeovers Code.

A leading topfruit customer for T&G, Scales announced the decision to acquire the additional 4 per cent in shares by filing a statement with the New Zealand Exchange (NZX).

In the statement, Scales told the NZX that, while it was still backing Munich-based agricultural groupBayWa's move for T&G, it saw value in the company remaining listed on the exchange with 'strong minority shareholder representation', TVNZ said.