Waikato Site Secured for Dairy Trust Plant

A Waikato site is one of four secured by Fonterra rival Dairy Trust as it proceeds with plans to set up a competing milk processing business.

Chairman Sam Lewis said Dairy Trust, a subsidiary of meat processor and exporter Affco, has secured four locations — in Waikato, Wanganui, Northland and Southland — for plants from related companies.

The facilities would be developed in stages and the timing would depend on capital requirements and regulatory consent requirements.

Dairy Trust is buying three sites — in Northland, Wanganui and Waikato — from Affco, its main shareholder, and is also buying the rights to existing effluent and water treatment facilities associated with the sites.

In Southland, Talleys Fisheries is buying a site at Awarua, southeast of Invercargill, from the Invercargill City Council, and is nominating Dairy Trust as the buyer. Talleys is the controlling shareholder in Affco.

Mr Lewis said Dairy Trust was not revealing the cost of the purchases yet. It would in due course. Dairy Trust would be holding its first board meeting probably in early May.

Affco owns 80 per cent of Dairy Trust and three private investors the rest. The company hopes to list on the NZ within 15 months.

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