Van der Heyden hits back at Open Country Cheese

The chairman of New Zealand dairy co-operative Fonterra has hit out at comments made by rival Open Country Cheese.

Sir Henry van der Heyden is unhappy about claim’s the dairy giant’s capital structure plans would reduce competition.
Open Country Cheese chairman Laurie Margrain claimed Fonterra’s planned stage three of its capital restructuring process could lock farmers into the co-operative.
The stage three proposal would create share trading among farmers. The first two stages allowed farmers to increase their shareholding to 120% of milk production. Farmers can currently redeem their shares at the current fair value price set by an independent assessor.
Mr Margrain said dairy farmers should regard their right to join and leave Fonterra as non-negotiable.
But van der Heyden hit back at the claims and insisted that farmers were free to come and go as they please.