News Investment
Canadian pension fund buys into NZ dairy market
The until now entirely New Zealand company Dairy Holdings has been sold for 25% to Sooke Investments, part of a Canadian pension fund. Diary Holdings is Fonterra's largest supplier with over 16 million kilos of milk.
It is noteworthy that a Canadian investor, owned by a state pension fund, buys from a large cooperative of dairy farmers. Especially considering Dairy Holdings's website to date shows off the fact that the company is wholly New Zealand-owned.
Dairy Holdings
Dairy Holdings is owned by 5 major investors. Another investment from another investment company can be explained in that sense. Still, despite Sooke not being on uncharted territory in New Zealand, it remains unknown why the Canadian company is meddling in the New Zealand dairy market. Especially since Dairy Holdings supplies almost every drop of milk to, and is a shareholder in, New Zealand dairy processor Fonterra.
Despite the fact that Fonterra's performance over the past 2 years leaves a lot to be desired, Dairy Holdings is the largest player for the dairy processor. In addition to being the largest supplier, the cooperative is also the largest shareholder. This translates into ownership of more than $12 million in stock and $1 billion in assets.
Among the 5 investors who jointly form Dairy Holdings, 59 dairy farmers are employed, all of whom are located in the South Island and keep a total of 50.000 dairy cows. 54 of these companies supply Fonterra with 16,1 million kilos of milk. The other 5 dairy farmers supply 1,2 million milk to Westland Milk Products Limited (Westland), according to figures for the 2018/19 season.
Canadian investor
Sooke Investments is a subsidiary of a Canadian state-owned Quebec pension fund. Incidentally, the investment company is not on unfamiliar territory in New Zealand. It previously bought 69,5% of Kaingaroa Timberlands, which owns a major log supplier, and also owns an investment company called Global Herd.
Jorine Cosse
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