Receiver KordaMentha has rejected the Sir Michael Fay-led consortium’s $171.5 million bid for the 16 Crafar Farms, saying the price was unacceptable.
KordaMentha’s Brendon Gibson said the already accepted offer of more than $200 million by China’s Pengxin International Group was by far the best offer, and remained so.
Pengxin’s offer is conditional on getting consent from the Overseas Investment Office, which has been pending since April.
Sir Michael says he is 'disappointed but not surprised' by the receiver's decision, but his group’s offer remains on the table.
He says he understands why the receivers wouldn’t want to send the wrong signal to the current prospective buyers, but he says ‘the key issue is do we want to be selling off large chunks of productive farmland to overseas owners, or do we want to retain ownership of that land with genuine Kiwi farmers?’
