Van Dieman's Land dairy sale dispute

A Victoria Supreme Court has upheld an injunction temporarily halting the sale of Tasmanian dairy business Van Diemen's Land to a Chinese backed company.

Moon Lake is headed by Chinese businessman Lu Xianfeng who made an unconditional binding offer to VDL owner, New Zealand-based New Plymouth District Council.

But the offer is subject to approval by the Foreign Investment Review Board.

Earlier this month the VDL indicated it was selling to the Tasmanian company TasFoods Limited in a $280 million cash and share deal.

However, NPDC's investment arm, Taranaki Investment Management Limited, announced subsequently it had sold the farm in a "commercially superior" deal.

The NewZealandfarmer.co.nz speculates it is $300 million.

The case is back in court this week.

VDL is effectively owned by the New Plymouth District Council in New Zealand and the council’s interests are managed by Taranaki Investment Management Limited (TIML).

TasFoods Limited, formerly OnCard International Limited, has retained Allan Myers QC and Andrew Broadfoot of counsel, instructed by Norton Gledhill.

The Van Diemen’s Land Company has dairy operations in the far North-West of Tasmania with some 25 dairy farms. Thirteen of the farms are in Woolnorth and another 12 in other areas of Circular Head. It milks about 19,000 cows to produce between 90 and 100 million litres of milk, or 7.7 million kilograms of milk solids, a year.

There are about 150 staff employed on its own properties, including those share-farmed.