Natural Dairy bid 'still best offer', say receivers

KordaMentha receivers Brendon Gibson (L) and Michael Stiassny say the Natural Dairy offer for the Crafar dairy farms is still the best deal on the table. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Natural Dairy's offer to purchase the Crafar group of properties still stands, despite the launch of a Serious Fraud Office investigation into transactions involving the properties.

The Serious Fraud Office announced yesterday it had started an investigation after a tip-off from the Overseas Investment Office (OIO), which was assessing an application by the group to buy the farms.

The group has a conditional sale and purchase agreement in place to buy the farms off the receivers - subject to (OIO) approval.

That assessment is now on hold, while the SFO conducts its investigation.

The transactions in question are the proposed sale and purchase of a number of dairy farms (commonly know as the "Crafar farms") currently in receivership, SFO chief executive Adam Feeley said.

KordaMentha spokesperson Brendon Gibson said he did not know how long the investigation might take, but said that the company was "contemplating" its position.

"We will continue to assess the position relative to what's going on in terms of the OIO application and obviously now the SFO probe is part of that," Gibson said.

He added that the Natural Dairy offer was the best on the table and the receivers had a statutory obligation to get the best price.

The company had plans and sharemilkers in place for the full season, he said.

"We will obviously need to just assess how long this is going to take and what potentially we may have to do in the future," he said.

Gibson said that while Allan Crafar had said he would be putting in his own bid to buy the farms from the receiver, no such offer had been received.

Landcorp chief executive Chris Kelly said the SFO investigation suggested Natural Dairy's bid for the farms looked "shaky".

"It's definitely going to slow the process and at some stage the receivers are going to have to weigh up whether they will continue to pursue that option," he said.

"We would certainly be interested in relooking at the farms," he said.

However he said the company was not taking the view that it was back in the running for the farms, despite an earlier report which suggested that it was.

Kelly said he had not heard from the receivers since they knocked back a bid by Landcorp to buy the farms in July.

The Crafar farms went into receivership a year ago, owing more than $200 million to PGG Wrightson and the banks.

SFO chief executive Adam Feeley said the investigation into Natural Dairy would be conducted with "haste".

"After the initial investigation and report, we will decide whether there are reasonable grounds to believe an offence involving serious and complex fraud may have been committed and, if warranted, undertake a further, in-depth investigation under the powers of Part II of the SFO Act," he added.