JUNE is shaping up as a frantic month for management at Tasmanian agricultural company Webster as the business packs up its head office and jumps Bass Strait to new quarters at Leeton in the NSW Riverina.
Webster is also well on its way to concluding its takeover of western NSW cotton and pastoral business Tandou.
By the end of the week the company held more than two thirds of Tandou shares and continued to report a steady flow of shareholder acceptances due before its June 12 acquisition deadline.
Tasmanian management, working with key shareholder representatives from northern NSW-based Australian Food and Fibre (AFF) at Moree, have begun reviewing Webster's significantly expanded mainland cropping business, including future roles for Tandou's Mildura, Victoria, and Menindee, NSW, management team when the takeover is completed.
Tandou's row crop operations at Menindee and Hay will be brought under the management umbrella of AFF general manager Joe Robinson, whose company has an agreement to run cropping activities on Webster's 40,000-hectare Kooba Station-based aggregation near Darlington Point and Carrathool, bought from the Mormon Church's AgReserves Australia for $123 million late last year.
Also now in the Webster portfolio are 25,000ha of irrigation and dryland country at Bourke and Garah in NSW (six properties in total), plus the 1684ha "Lakeland Downs" at Condamine on Queensland's Darling Downs, acquired from AFF last month.
Webster chief executive John Hosken said the review included the management of the company's grazing operations, which at this point were under AFF's control, plus Tandou's Dorper organic prime lamb business.
The portfolio review may include consideration of changes to some aspects of the newly combined businesses in the longer-term, but at the moment it was business as usual across all properties.
Meanwhile, Webster's head office team will move from Devonport to Leeton before June 30, with Mr Hosken taking control of the company's horticulture division Walnuts Australia, which has 300ha of orchards at Swansea in Tasmania and 900ha in the Riverina and new chief financial officer Andrew Reilly commencing in July.
New executive chairman and former Olam Australia boss, Richard Haire, also joins the company in mid-June.
The off-market takeover offer for all Tandou Limited shares was declared unconditional on Monday after Webster's stake climbed above 57pc, ensuring shareholders who had already accepted will receive one Webster share for every 2.25 fully paid Tandou shares on July 1.
The company committed to transferring Webster shares to other Tandou shareholders by July 3 if they accepted the offer by next Friday.
Mr Hosken said the $114m-plus Tandou takeover bid appeared to be well supported judging by the number of acceptances being received, although it was hard to tell if Webster would have total control by next week.
An option existed to extend the offer twice if necessary.
