Viterra has officially reached the finish line in its merger with Australian agribusiness ABB Grain Ltd., adding four of ABB’s former directors at the Regina firm’s boardroom table.
The four ABB appointees, who were named in July pending the merger’s approval, are ABB’s board chairman Perry Gunner; South Australia farmers and ABB directors Max Venning and Paul Daniel; and ABB finance and audit committee chairman Kevin Osborn, who’s also deputy chairman of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd.
Gunner, who’s also a director of Australian Vintage Ltd. and Freedom Nutritional Foods Ltd., will now become Viterra’s deputy chairman and will serve on Viterra’s nominating corporate governance committee.
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However, due to limits under the Canadian Business Corporations Act on the number of directors who can be added to the board at any one time, Viterra director Herb Pinder of Saskatoon has agreed to resign temporarily and sit as an observer.
Viterra said in a release Wednesday that it intends to nominate Pinder — who’s been on the board since 2003 and also chairs the Goal Group of Companies — in director elections at Viterra’s next annual shareholders’ meeting in the spring of 2010.
Among other final details, Viterra has paid A$751.7 million cash into an ABB-designated trust account for shareholders, and issued 78.3 million new Viterra shares. ABB shareholders as of Sept. 17 will by now have also received their special dividend of A41 cents per ABB share.
Trading of ABB shares is now suspended and ABB has applied for its listing on the ASX (Australian Securities Exchange) to be cancelled on Thursday (Sept. 24).
