Fonterra’s farmer shareholders have voted overwhelmingly in favour of the sale of the brands like Mainland and Anchor to a French company.
More than 88 percent of the votes cast at a special meeting backed the $4.2 billion sale to French dairy giant Lactalis.
ASB Bank estimated the sale proceeds would ultimately be worth about $4.5b to the economy, with farmer shareholders receiving an average tax-free payout of about $392,000 if the sale went ahead.
The sale to the world’s biggest dairy group, French-based Lactalis, is the final step in Fonterra’s transition to a slimmed-down New Zealand-based supplier of raw ingredients and high-value products to other manufacturers.
As soon as the supply deal ends, Kapiti ice cream is going to be made from milk from everywhere but Kapiti.
And we’re still going to have it on our shelves, and we’re going to be charged a premium for Kapiti ice cream from Poland.
Any fool can see that a French owner is immediately going to source raw materials from the EU as soon as possible.