Court to rule on bid for Oyster Bay

The High Court could determine the fate of Delegat's Wine Estate's $4 per share takeover offer for Oyster Bay Marlborough Vineyards today in Wellington.

The battle for the NZAX-listed vineyard has been going on since May and could begin again if the court takes the Takeover Panel's side.

The panel will argue Delegat's offer should be cancelled and the takeover should start afresh.

This reverses an earlier decision by the panel in October when it said shareholders should have received information omitted from Oyster Bay's target statement.

Since then it had become clear that even more valuation information had been missing from the document than was originally thought.

Last month, the panel asked the court for an urgent hearing, which it granted in early November, to ensure control of Oyster Bay voting rights would be clearly established before its annual meeting on December 9. It's unlikely that will happen now.

At the meeting next week, shareholders will get to vote on the sale of the 2004 grape harvest and the procedures Oyster Bay independent directors use to determine the grape prices paid by Delegat's.

The grape price has become a contentious issue with shareholders like Peter Yealand.

He, like many, has argued that without the long term grape-selling contracts to Delegat's, Oyster Bay would be worth $90 million.

That figure is twice Oyster Bay's valuation in the target statement.