Jamie Mackay: The Country host ahead of the crucial vote impacting Synlait Milk

The future of South Island dairy company Synlait Milk is up in the air ahead of a crucial vote to ensure its survival.

A special shareholders meeting will be held on Thursday to approve a $130 million loan from its biggest shareholder, China's Bright Dairy.

The Country's Jamie Mackay speculates which direction the voters will go.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Jamie mckaye, Host of the Countries with us right now, Hey, Jamie.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Can I hear that?

Speaker 1 (00:04):
So why does this guy, this is a farmer from
Winded Up, why did he row across the cook straight?

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Well, his name's Jamie Strong. He's a wire at the farmer,
current judge of the balanced farm environment towards He said,
he's been fit all his life. He's a keen cyclist,
took up rowing a couple of years ago to keep
him fit. He's seventy six, so today as you do
here that he just decided to row across Cock straight
to raise some money for Farmstrong And isn't there a

(00:31):
deliciously rich irony in the fact that a seventy six
year old farmer can get across Cock straight with the
fairies car?

Speaker 1 (00:39):
What was the weather? I mean, like, if anybody said
to me, I'm going to row across Crook straight, the
first thing I would say to them is, no, you're not,
because it's going to kill you. What was the weather like?

Speaker 2 (00:48):
It was beautiful. There's a big high plumped over New
Zealand obviously this week, very low swells, perfect conditions and
he did it quite comfortably. Apparently in the end and
having flown over cook straight last week, he chose the
right week to do it.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
I think, yeah, good on him. Okay, so listener, you're
going to go to the Young Farmer of the Year
Grand Final.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Now, I'm going to lick my wounds. I've been on
the road far too much. But it's going to be fantastic.
It's being held gets Underway and Hamilton on Thursday Claudland's
Events Center there in the middle of town. Great venue
culminates on Saturday night with the cloak of Knowledge being
handed over by the twenty twenty three winner, Emma Paul,
first woman to ever win the Young Farmer of the

(01:28):
Year Final. And we've got seven first time finalists. Often
with the Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final feather
sometimes you have to be a repeat offender to win it,
just to get that experience. It's quite a few young guys,
all blokes this year, no women in the final and
they're all first timers. So we will have, as I say,
first time, I'm winning the Young Farmer of the Year

(01:51):
once again. As a lovely synergy with fat. In nineteen five,
Warwick Kato, Jamie Strang's fellow judged for the Balanced Farm
Environment Awards. He won the Young Farmer of the Year contest,
repeating the effort of from his twin brother who won
it nineteen ninety two. And if you think twin brothers
winning the Young Farmer of the Year in the nineties,
it's pretty cool. Well, Emma Paul's brother and Dan Jin

(02:15):
won it in twenty twenty two, better husband was runner up.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
It's in the family and the family, isn't it, Jamie,
What do you think is going to happen with sinlo
what's the most likely outcome?

Speaker 2 (02:25):
Well, I think it's Hobson's choice, sarahwe but I think
they're going to have to vote. So a special shareholders
meetings going to be held on Thursday to approve this
one hundred and thirty million dollar loan from the biggest shareholder.
It seems it's the only only only porter call for them.
Sorry to use the cook straight analogy again. So that's
Bright Dairy out of China. So siddenly needs the money

(02:47):
to repay loans due on the fifteenth feb Very Bright
Dairy cannot actually vote, so it's up to the shareholders.
Institutional shareholders own about forty one percent of the company. Interestingly,
the other twenty two centers owned by A two Milkom's
a question over there whether they're keen to support this
is just throwing good money after bad so if it

(03:08):
doesn't get the vote, they're going to be left with
limited options. One of them would obviously be voluntary administration,
and I'm sure no one it's in they wants to
see that. So the deadline proxy for votes I think
finished this afternoon. That special shareholders meeting will be held
on Thursday afternoon.

Speaker 1 (03:26):
Watch this space, Jamie, good to talk to you. Thank
you so much, appreciate its Jammie MacKaye, host of the Country.
For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive listen live and
news talks.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
It'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
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