Synlait expects a decision by the Overseas Investment Office within the next few days on an offer by Shanghai Pengxin for a majority stake in its farming operation.
The Canterbury dairy company says the owners of 0.4 percent of shares have not yet accepted the offer of $2.10 per share, which it believes reflects the highest acceptance of any takeover in New Zealand since the Takeovers Code was introduced in 2000.
Synlait Farms owns 13 properties south-west of Christchurch, milking 13,000 cows.
Shanghai Pengxin also owns 16 farms in the North Island formerly owned by the Crafar family and now managed by the state-owned Landcorp.
Synlait Farms chairman Barry Brook, says there are a number of differences between the proposed takeover and the Crafar farms deal, which led to a public debate about foreign, particularly Chinese, purchases of New Zealand land.
He says Chinese regulatory approval must also be given for the deal, because it involves the transfer of funds out of China, but that is a procedural set of approvals and a decision should quickly follow once the OIO decision is made public.
