Dairy giant falls to Canadian firm
DAIRY processing heavyweight Murray Goulburn Cooperative is to finally fall into foreign hands after shareholders overwhelmingly backed a $1.3 billion buyout offer.
Almost 70 years after it was formed by a group of dairy farmers, Murray Goulburn will hand its assets to Canadian titan Saputo within a month after shareholders endorsed the takeover offer.
Amid some sadness over Murray Goulburn’s demise, more than 98 per cent of proxies were voted in favour of the sale at the shareholders’ meeting in Melbourne yesterday.
Murray Goulburn shareholders, who have been extensively briefed on the deal since it was brokered in October, appeared resigned to the sale, asking no questions on the resolution seeking their approval.
In October, dairy farmers vented their fury and disappointment at the Murray Goulburn board during the cooperative’s annual meeting.
Yesterday, just one dairy farmer on the floor lamented what had been lost.
“It’s a very sad day – I think most of us here feel that we are attending a wake, ” he said.
Supplier and Murray Goulburn director Craig Dwyer said it was a momentous day given what the co-operative had meant for so many families and communities over its 68year history.
Mr Dwyer said Murray Goulburn was not about who had supplied or worked for the co-operative for the longest time, or who had the most shares.
“It is about the farms, the factories and the families,” he said.
“The MG family encapsulated all, from the night shift operator, the tanker driver, the field service team, right up to senior management.”
But Mr Dwyer said it was time to look to the future, with the growing global demand for dairy products.
Murray Goulburn’s assets and brands were being sold to an ethical, family-oriented business in Saputo, he said.
“I would encourage you all to give them a chance to prove themselves with your supply, and build on the foundations created by so many of you and your hard-working dairy farming predecessors,” Mr Dwyer said.
Murray Goulburn chief Ari Mervis said Saputo had shown itself to be a trusted processor in Australia through its ownership of Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory.
Murray Goulburn was confident Saputo would honour all commitments to suppliers, including collecting milk on terms no less favourable than those Murray Goulburn was currently providing, he said.
Saputo’s takeover of Murray Goulburn still requires approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board but the Canadian firm hopes to finalise the acquisition by May 1. Murray Goulburn’s fortunes have soured since April 2016, when the co-operative unexpectedly slashed the price it paid farmers for their milk.