Friday 24th September 2010 |
Text too small? |
Olam International, the owner of 67% of NZ Farming Systems Uruguay, surged on the Singapore stock exchange after confirming it is in collaboration talks with rival Louis Dreyfus Commodities.
Olam “has engaged in preliminary confidential discussions with Louis Dreyfus in relation to a possible business collaboration which may take the form of, among others, a merger,” the global supplier of food and agricultural commodities said. The talks are “preliminary” and there’s no certainty a deal will be done, it said.
Shares of Olam jumped 8.5% to S$3.20 on the Singapore stock exchange and have climbed 22% in the past 12 months. The shares are rated ‘outperform’ based on the consensus of 17 recommendations compiled by Reuters.
Olam’s New Zealand investments include a stake in Open Country Dairy, which buys regulated milk from Fonterra though its entire local exposure is a minor part of a business that supplies commodities including cocoa, coffee, rice and cotton in 64 countries. Dreyfus is the world’s largest rice and cotton trader.
“The New Zealand operations are tiny in relation to the whole thing,” Milford Asset Management director Brian Gaynor. It is “impossible to know” at this stage what the implications would be for the New Zealand assets.
“There’s a long way to go – Singaporeans don’t give up their companies easily,” he said.
Olam is part-owned by Temasek Holdings, the Singapore government’s investment unit. Dreyfus, which operates in more than 55 countries, had sales of US$34 billion last year.
Businesswire.co.nz
No comments yet
Second St John withdrawal of labour takes effect tomorrow with further strikes likely
Sanford Appoints Independent Director
CRP ADVISES CLOSURE OF SHARE OFFER TO EXISTING INVESTOR
Devon Funds Morning Note - 14 August 2024
OCR 5.25% - Monetary restraint tempered as inflation converges on target
Consumers still need due diligence as new deposit takers emerge.
Woolworths strike: staff asked to dress up in Disney costumes for a week on their own dollar
Turners Invests in Quashed Online Insurance Platform
PGW Reports on Challenging Year
Arvida Announces Executive Team Changes