Milking your success

Buddle Findlay advises clients on all dairy industry related legal issues, ranging from advice for independent dairy co-operatives to corporate, commercial, financing, and environmental law advice for entities operating and investing in the sector.

Clients and services

We advise on:

  • Planning for and facilitating the acquisition of dairy assets and farm land
  • Structuring joint ventures, partnerships, acquisitions and investments in dairy companies and co-operatives, including advising on appropriate corporate tax structures and takeover law
  • Undertaking due diligence for both vendor and purchaser entities and analysis of all specific issues regarding takeovers
  • Obtaining regulatory approval under the Overseas Investment Act 2005
  • Undertaking resource management and environmental risk assessments and obtaining permits and consents
  • Preparing and negotiating commercial agreements in the dairy industry, including access and management agreements, sharemilking agreements and construction contracts for the building of dairy processing assets
  • Debt and equity funding arrangements
  • Acquisition and leasing of rural and industrial land.

Recent work

  • Acting for an offshore investor on the purchase of Mt Potts Station
  • Acting for Singapore-based Olam International on its takeover offer for dairy farm developer NZ Farming Systems Uruguay
  • Advising a potential investor on the acquisition of a controlling stake in the independent dairy company Synlait Milk
  • Advising Landcorp Farming (owner of over 100 farms in New Zealand) on numerous acquisitions, disposals, subdivisions, leasing, tenders and farming related agreements
  • Advising Epicurean Dairy on its purchase of business assets from Canaan Cheeses
  • Acting for Olam International on the acquisition of its cornerstone stake in Open Country Cheese
  • Advising Greenfield Agribusiness on the formation of the Greenfield Rural Opportunities Fund
  • Acting for various registered banks on the provision of debt, subordinated-debt and hybrid-equity funding options to borrowers within the dairy sector, including limited recourse project financing for a number of major dairy New Zealand projects
  • Advising Central Plains Water on the establishment of an irrigation scheme on the Canterbury Plains
  • Advising limited partners (both registered banks and corporate) on their investment in limited partnerships undertaking dairy conversions
  • Advising Arapuni Milk Company on its shareholding arrangements
  • Acting for New Zealand Dairy Foods on its merger with Kiwi Co-operative Dairies
  • Advising Tatua Co-operative Dairy on restructuring and employment issues
  • Advising Wairarapa Moana Incorporation on its capital raising to develop a whole milk powder factory at Mokai, and a water take resource consent application involving complex issues of water allocation with the Waikato Regional Council
  • Advising New Zealand Dairies and its parent company on matters arising from the construction of its dairy processing plant in South Canterbury
  • Advising Deloitte on the receivership of Big Sky Dairy Farm, Central Otago's largest single dairy farm
  • Advising the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Ministry of Economic Development on regulatory and public policy matters including the preparation of the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act 2001
  • Advising Selwyn District Council on appeals to the Environment Court concerning the "Proposed Change Number 1" to the Canterbury Regional Policy Statement, which related to land use and urban growth management in the greater Christchurch region over the next 35 years