After several years of strategy review and consultation, Zespri shareholders have voted to strengthen grower ownership and control of the company.
More than 75% of shareholders at a March 14 special meeting in Mount Maunganui approved several changes to Zespri’s constitution, according to a news release.
One of the issues addressed was an increasing misalignment between growers who supply Zespri kiwifruit and people who own shares in the company.
“A significant number of New Zealand kiwifruit orchard owners do not own Zespri shares and over 18 million shares are held by people who have left the kiwifruit industry,” Zespri chairman Peter McBride said in the release.
The constitution creates a share cap of a maximum of four shares for each tray of production and introduces dividend restrictions on shareholders who don’t grow kiwifruit, according to the release.
“Without these measures, there is a risk that, over time, ownership of Zespri would progressively move away from the current growers supplying Zespri and undermine the stability of our industry structure,” McBride said in the release.
“This support for change reflects the cohesiveness of our industry and a common interest among growers and former growers in seeing it prosper,” he said in the release. “The measures require a huge amount of goodwill but ultimately they will support Zespri’s ability to deliver strong, sustainable value to kiwifruit growers and shareholders over the long term.”
Shareholders also voted in a favor of a targeted share issue and buyback program planned for the second half of the year. The program will be based on an independent valuation and aims to issue shares to growers with no or few shares, while offering to buy back shares from non-producers and over-shared shareholders, according to the release.
The changes come after nearly five years of consultation with growers, including a 2015 grower referendum with record attendance, followed by amendments to the Kiwifruit Export Regulations by New Zealand’s government last year.
“There are diverse shareholder positions in our industry and we have been committed to a fair process, respectful of all shareholders,” McBride said in the release. “The changes will come into effect over a number of years, with a substantial transition period in place. The steps we have taken today will help us to deliver sustainable wealth to New Zealand kiwifruit growers, the wider kiwifruit industry and the communities which rely on our industry.”
