A planned foreign takeover of Australia's biggest food maker, Goodman Fielder, has hit a hurdle amid delays in obtaining regulatory approval from China.
The maker of Meadow Lea and White Wings is subject to a $1.3 billion takeover offer from Singapore-based agribusiness Wilmar International and Hong Kong investment firm First Pacific Company, via a scheme of arrangement.
A meeting of Goodman Fielder shareholders to approve the scheme had been expected to be held in late November, subject to the process of regulatory approvals.
However the meeting has had to be pushed back to early 2015 because obtaining regulatory approval from China is taking longer than expected.
"While Wilmar and First Pacific are continuing to progress the required regulatory approvals, Goodman Fielder and Wilmar/First Pacific now anticipate that the process for obtaining approval from the Ministry of Commerce in China is likely to take longer than initially anticipated," Goodman Fielder said on Monday.
The end date of the scheme has been extended from December 31 to March 31, 2015.
The proposed takeover requires various regulatory approvals, including from Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board and the Overseas Investment Office in New Zealand.
Shares in Goodman Fielder were 0.75 cents lower at 63.25 cents at 1052 AEST.
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