There was a mix of angst and uncertainty towards the proposed merger of the Aurivo and Dale Farm co-ops, at an information meeting held by Aurivo in Roscommon town, on Tuesday evening.
After presentations from the CEOs of both entities on the potential benefits of a merger, a two-hour session of questions and answers from the shareholders of Aurivo Co-op ensued.
Former Aurivo chair Pat Duffy was one of the more outspoken on the night in his views against the merger.
“The reason this merger has run into trouble in the first place, is down to a vacuum of time and honesty in answers [for shareholders].
Stephen Blewitt, Aurivo Dairy General Manager, Lawrence McNamee, Aurivo Donegal Board Member, Raymond Barlow, Aurivo Chair, and Donal Tierney. The executive team faced over two hours of questions and statements from shareholders. \ Clive Wasson
“The big shortfall in this agreement as proposed, is in the representation structure. No matter how you mix the numbers five out of 15 [board members] is a handover rather than a merger,” he said.
The merger as it is proposed would see a new board formed with five representatives from Aurivo and 10 from Dale Farm. This was calculated based on the value of the assets each entity will be bringing to the deal.
Another area that was of concern to those in attendance was around voting rights should a merger go ahead.
There are over 7,000 shareholder farmers in Aurivo versus the 1,200 shareholders in Dale Farm.
According to Aurivo CEO Donal Tierney, any votes would not be a ‘one man, one vote’ system, but instead a weighted structure, where Aurivo would have the equivalent of between 37-38% of the vote.
Aurivo board members that were in attendance at the meeting all spoke in favour of the merger. A show of hands called by former chair Pat Duffy and seconded by Roscommon dairy farmer Pat Hickey at the end of the meeting, demonstrated the mood in the room.
A relatively small number of those present voted in favour of the deal, but the vast majority either voted against or to seek further information.
Raymond Barlow, Chairman Aurivo, John Payne - Aurivo Board of Directors, Megan O'Rourke - Branch Manager Homeland Longford, Donal Tierney, CEO Aurivo. The executive team faced over two hours of questions and statements from shareholders.
There was a mix of angst and uncertainty towards the proposed merger of the Aurivo and Dale Farm co-ops, at an information meeting held by Aurivo in Roscommon town, on Tuesday evening.
After presentations from the CEOs of both entities on the potential benefits of a merger, a two-hour session of questions and answers from the shareholders of Aurivo Co-op ensued.
Former Aurivo chair Pat Duffy was one of the more outspoken on the night in his views against the merger.
“The reason this merger has run into trouble in the first place, is down to a vacuum of time and honesty in answers [for shareholders].
Stephen Blewitt, Aurivo Dairy General Manager, Lawrence McNamee, Aurivo Donegal Board Member, Raymond Barlow, Aurivo Chair, and Donal Tierney. The executive team faced over two hours of questions and statements from shareholders. \ Clive Wasson
“The big shortfall in this agreement as proposed, is in the representation structure. No matter how you mix the numbers five out of 15 [board members] is a handover rather than a merger,” he said.
The merger as it is proposed would see a new board formed with five representatives from Aurivo and 10 from Dale Farm. This was calculated based on the value of the assets each entity will be bringing to the deal.
Another area that was of concern to those in attendance was around voting rights should a merger go ahead.
There are over 7,000 shareholder farmers in Aurivo versus the 1,200 shareholders in Dale Farm.
According to Aurivo CEO Donal Tierney, any votes would not be a ‘one man, one vote’ system, but instead a weighted structure, where Aurivo would have the equivalent of between 37-38% of the vote.
Aurivo board members that were in attendance at the meeting all spoke in favour of the merger. A show of hands called by former chair Pat Duffy and seconded by Roscommon dairy farmer Pat Hickey at the end of the meeting, demonstrated the mood in the room.
A relatively small number of those present voted in favour of the deal, but the vast majority either voted against or to seek further information.
Raymond Barlow, Chairman Aurivo, John Payne - Aurivo Board of Directors, Megan O'Rourke - Branch Manager Homeland Longford, Donal Tierney, CEO Aurivo. The executive team faced over two hours of questions and statements from shareholders.
SHARING OPTIONS