Veteran stockbroker and minority shareholder, Hugh Robertson of Wilson HTM has called for a public float of Tasmania-based Van Diemen’s Land (VDL), one of Australia’s largest and oldest dairy companies. VDL is the country’s largest milk supplier, with 26,000 dairy cows on 19,000 hectares across 25 dairy farms, and also has a heifer rearing operation and the Roaring 40’s wind farms. The company has been working unsuccessfully to attract $120 million in capital to fund an expansion for several years, and it is hoped that an IPO would provide an alternative to the company being sold as a whole. 2013 was a difficult year with VDL borrowing $1.7 million from Fonterra Australia when livestock valuations fell, however according to recent filings, VDL has reported record milk production of 6.72 million kilograms of milk solids with a rebound of livestock valuations in 2014. Despite the call for a float, VDL however, is currently a takeover target by the shell entity, Tasmanian Land Co. (TLC) – a wholly owned subsidiary of BDO Agricultural Services, established by the accounting firm BDO Australia. TLC has offered $2 per share, a 45% premium to net tangible assets, and VDL deputy chair Miles Hampton is recommending the offer, but many are put off by the complexity of the structure of the company. To read more about the possible future path for VDL:
To receive relevant news stories with summaries provided by GAI Research & Insight, subscribe to Global AgDevelopments, our free weekly enhanced eNews service