Wine deal toasted from floor

DITA DE BONI heads off to an agreeable day for Montana - and its directors

Montana shareholders have agreed to financial arrangements that rubberstamp the purchase of Corbans Wines.

At an annual meeting in Auckland yesterday, a large contingent of shareholders agreed to financing arrangements already in place and a capital notes issue now underway to raise $125 million for the $154 million Corbans purchase.

At 3.50 pm, Montana chairman Peter Masfen said "cheques will be exchanged in 10 minutes" merging the country's two largest wine producers.

The merged company will process up to 65,000 tonnes of home-grown and bulk-imported wine each year and will have the lion's share of the domestic and export market.

Rationalisation will happen "almost immediately," with any short-term job losses offset by inevitable staff expansion, Mr Masfen said.

Directors also asked shareholders to vote for a 50 per cent increase in yearly fees - from $200,000 to $300,000 - to non-executive directors.

Mr Masfen said the last time directors asked shareholders for more pay was in 1996.

The roughly 600-strong crowd were enthusiastic about calls from female meeting-goers to consider putting a "young, vital, switched-on female wine drinker" on the all-male board.

Several attendees confirmed the issue had been raised previously at Montana annual meetings.

Mr Masfen said a "lady member of the board is a proper thing to bring forward and directors will give consideration to the matter."

After the meeting, Mr Masfen refused to say whether Lion Nathan would get another seat on Montana's board. Lion Nathan chief executive Gordon Cairns was issued a seat several weeks after Lion's lightning raid on the winemaker's share register and has since expressed a hope that its 28.6 per cent shareholding would allow it further representation.

Mr Masfen was also asked to comment on Montana's notes issue. Several brokers have complained to the Business Herald that underwriter JB Were was not distributing the popular notes fairly among broking houses.

But Mr Masfen said he was surprised at the comments, saying $75 million had already been allotted to institutions and that the public pool had not yet closed.

"If JB Were puts its hand up to underwrite the issue, it will get more - that's the way it goes," he said.

Montana shares closed down 1c at $3.40 yesterday.