Rural merger hangs on vote

After getting the all-clear from the Commerce Commission, the merger of rural services giants Wrightson and Pyne Gould Guinness (PGG) faces its final two hurdles this week.

Shareholders from both companies will vote on the issue at two special meetings, which will be highlights for the sharemarket this week. Wrightson holds its meeting on Wednesday and PGG on Friday.

With the majority shareholders of each company having already approved the deal, the outcome is something of a foregone conclusion.

Craig Norgate's Rural Portfolio Investments owns 50.01 per cent of Wrightson and Pyne Gould Corporation 55.4 per cent of PGG.

The two companies have not only approved the deal but concocted the whole thing in the first place.

But the meetings will give smaller shareholders a chance to vent concerns about the merger, which will create entity with $1 billion revenue and a market capitalisation of $510 million.

* Managing Paradise begins today. The three-day conference hosted by the Tourism Industry Association and Tourism New Zealand focuses on managing the country's $17 billion tourism trade while minimising human impacts on the environment.

Keynote speaker Keith Bellows, National Geographic vice-president and editor of National Geographic Traveller, will provide a global perspective on how well popular destinations are coping with pollution, globalisation and mass tourism.

Also on the bill are a number of Government officials such as Hugh Logan, Director-General of the Department of Conservation, Tim Gibson, chief executive of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, and Barry Carbon, chief executive of the Ministry of Environment.