Local couple in NZ's biggest dairy farm takeover | Bay of Plenty Business | Business News for Bay of Plenty, New Zealand

Wealthy Tauranga couple Colin and Dale Armer are involved in the takeover of New Zealand's largest dairy farming conglomerate, worth $535 million.

They are shareholders in Dairy Holdings which bought South Canterbury Finance's $54.4 million stake and took full control of 58 South Island farms, covering 18,000ha of land and 43,400 milking cows.

According to Companies Office records, the Armers - who live at Mount Maunganui - own 60.6 per cent of Dairy Holdings and agribusiness mogul Alan Pye 25 per cent. A fourth party of other New Zealand investors, Jagewi, hold the remainder of the shares.

Mr Pye, the straight-talking Temuka crop and dairy farmer, expressed delight at taking full control of the farms.

He said he was concerned at Chinese investors buying into the New Zealand dairy industry.

"Of course, it's important that this stays in New Zealanders' hands - 24.9 per cent of this was owned by Americans and it's come back to New Zealand. We've done the opposite to what they're doing at the Crafar farms."

McGrathNicol's Kerryn Downey and William Black, the Auckland receivers of South Canterbury Finance, announced Dairy Holdings sale to existing New Zealand shareholders but did not name Mr Pye or the Armers. South Canterbury Finance owned 33.6 per cent and US shareholders 25 per cent. Dairy Holdings' chairman Bill Baylis said there would be no need for Overseas Investment Office involvement in the Dairy Holdings sale because the buyers were in New Zealand.

Mr Pye confirmed he and the Armers were the buyers, and said he expected to be more involved than the Armers in the business.

Dairy Holdings said Colin Armer is a leading North Island dairy farmer who with wife Dale holds extensive agricultural interests.

The Armers run Armer Farms (N.I.), based at Te Puke.

Mr Armer is a Fonterra director, joining the board in 2006, and has more than 30 years' experience in dairying. He is chairman of Fonterra's Supplier Relations Committee, the International Farming Ventures Group, and Payments Working Group.

Mr Pye referred to Dairy Holdings' beginnings and his long history with the business which also leases a further 15 grazing blocks.

"I started the thing and we've been working away at it for 12 years, milking cows ever since," he said.

He said his family were Australasia's largest crop farmers. "Between my sons and I, we're Australasia's biggest in carrots, potatoes and onions. My son Mark is growing 100,000 tonnes of vegetables a year in South Australia and Victoria," he said, referring to Parilla Premium Potatoes where Mark Pye is managing director.

Asked if the $54.4 million payment was a bargain for the portion of Dairy Holdings he and the Armers did not own, Mr Pye said it was "about right".

But the price was well under earlier valuation estimates which put South Canterbury Finance's stake at nearer $75.7 million when in 2008 the late Allan Hubbard transferred it to his now-failed finance company in an attempt to shore it up.