Musical chairs on Natural Dairy (NZ) board

Musical chairs at Natural Dairy (NZ) as two directors leave for health reasons

Sept. 30 (BusinessDesk) - Natural Dairy (NZ) Holdings, the Hong Kong-listed investment company that recently scaled back its ambitions to invest in New Zealand, has lost two directors to ill health and gained a new chairman.

Former chairman Yip Kean Mun and director Ng Chun Ming resigned effective last week, according to a statement to the Hong Kong stocks exchange. Both claimed ill health and Yip also had other business commitments.

Natural Dairy is the potential buyer of the 16 dairy farms owned by the Crafar family and up until recently had flagged a $1.5 billion spend-up on dairy assets in New Zealand. That part of its plan was withdrawn to comply with Hong Kong listing rules.

The Overseas Investment Office is currently assessing the transactions that would see the farms sold but in a further complication, the government has increased its powers to veto such deals and explicitly flagged its discomfort at the aggregation and sale of farmland to foreigners.

Natural Dairy has named Wu Neng Kun, a 27-year-old law graduate from Fujian Normal University, as new chairman. Wu is Wu is the nephew of Jack Keen Chen, a director of various companies in the Natural Dairy group.

The company also named Yao Hai Sheng, 41, and Zhang Han Wen, 26, as directors. Yao has a background in sales and marketing and Zhang’s experience includes working as a part-time store manager at a branch of McDonalds in the U.K. for three years. He gained his qualifications in England, the statement said.

The company separately extended the time it will take to make a “very substantial acquisition” for a fifth time to June 30, 2011, from today.

(BusinessDesk)

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