Tully Sugar talks takeovers

 Tully Sugar’s chairman Dick Camilleri and CEO John King, joined Deputy Chairman John Amies on the ground in Proserpine last week. The three executives conducted further meetings with growers and the local community, citing comparisons with Cofco’s takeover of Tully in many of the conversations that occurred.

 “I think it’s fair to say Tully’s had a bit of experience with takeovers given the fact we’ve just been acquired by Cofco and that process was open and transparent,” Mr King said.

 “There were three bidders and the board and management negotiated with all of them and as a result of that the shareholders ultimately got a better result.

 “Ultimately the growers here will make their decision. We just think an open and transparent process would be in the best interests of all,” he said.

 Tully’s three executives had already left town by the time Sucrogen’s Ian Glasson arrived and an opportunity presented itself for a “round table” scenario at a shed meeting on Monday night.

 While Mr Glasson said publicly that he would be happy for Tully Sugar to attend, Tully’s executives said they would prefer to be contacted direct.

 “We don’t believe it is appropriate for us to attend Sucrogen’s grower meetings without a formal invitation from the company,” Mr King said.

 “We would very much support a joint forum, whereby Tully and Sucrogen present their offers to growers to give Proserpine members full visibility of what each bidder is proposing.

 "A Tully/COFCO representative has left messages on Mr Glasson's mobile and his office phone in Sydney and I have written to him to formally invite Sucrogen to jointly host a forum with us for growers in Proserpine at a mutually convenient time.

 “We look forward to Mr Glasson's response and to continuing to engage Proserpine growers through a joint forum in the very near future,” Mr King said.

 “Tully/COFCO is committed to securing the best offer for Proserpine’s members and supports a full, open, honest and transparent process - a joint forum is a good step in this regard," he said.