Bids get bigger in vineyard battle

Peter Yealands and Delegat's continued to trade shots yesterday in their battle for control of Oyster Bay Marlborough Vineyards, with Yealands again raising his offer and Delegat's quickly matching it.

Yealands upped his bid 10c to $3.60 a share and extended the closing date of the offer from August 7 to 26.

He also complained to sharemarket operator NZX that Delegat's was withholding important information from him.

Shortly after the market closed yesterday Delegat's lifted its offer to $3.60 a share and extended it until September 19.

In an email sent to Oyster Bay, the Takeovers Panel, and the New Zealand Exchange, Yealands complained that he'd been left out of the loop by Delegat's regarding details of how much it had paid for Oyster Bay grapes in recent years.

"The directors have offered the information, but they've offered it with a confidentiality agreement that makes the information pointless," he said.

"We believe the information should be available to us as of right and we've lodged the complaint with the New Zealand Exchange and are hoping to get our remedy through them today or tomorrow."

He said the exchange has said it will publish all "pertinent" points except one, and the issue now rests with his lawyer.

By refusing to divulge the requested information, Oyster Bay directors were saying it was not relevant to the company's value, was highly confidential, and should remain a secret between them and Delegat's, Yealands said.

"For the life of me, I cannot see why shareholders should not be told how their company is doing.

"What frustrates me is that Delegat's has a takeover bid in the market in competition with mine. Delegat's has all the information that I have asked for but apparently I cannot have it."

For two months the pair have repeatedly topped each other's price, with the latest offer significantly higher than the independent valuer's $3.02 base-case valuation.

Delegat's is already a cornerstone shareholder and seeking to increase its holding to 50.1 per cent. On July 15, it advised the NZX it had lifted its holding by 2.04 per cent to 35.94 per cent.

Yealands, one of New Zealand's biggest private vineyard owners, said he had boosted his stake from 6.9 per cent to just over 13 per cent "in the past 20 odd days".

He had previously said he would not raise his offer until he received access to details of how much Delegat's paid for specific crops in recent years, but said yesterday that time pressures had forced his hand.

Oyster Bay shares ended at $3.30 yesterday, well below the $3.50 they were fetching earlier this month.

- NZPA