Agribusiness

The board of local seafoods business Mareterram intends to accept a $19.7 million proportional takeover offer from the company’s largest shareholder.

The competition watchdog has announced plans to investigate the cattle and beef industry following concerns that beef processors hold excessive power following industry consolidation around Australia.

Sandalwood producer TFS Corporation has confirmed a $65 million capital raising to buy-out plantations owned by managed investment schemes.

Wesfarmers chief executive Richard Goyder has thrown his support behind the state government’s plan to lease Fremantle Ports, saying the state needs a world-class operator to ensure exports are competitive internationally.

The Kailis family has folded its Kailis Bros seafood business into a larger, newly-capitalised venture called KB Foods that will be 90 per cent owned by Hong Kong-listed conglomerate Legend Holdings. Click through to see the multiple WA businesses owned by members of the Kailis family in WA. 

The chairman of Frankland River Olive Company looks set to wholly acquire and privatise the business, after Paul Letari increased his shareholding to over 90 per cent.

Managing the state’s economic transition was the main focus of today’s cabinet reshuffle, Premier Colin Barnett said, with tourism and agriculture in his sights as key growth industries.

New research by a Perth-based national innovation centre has confirmed significant rainfall and climate changes in the state’s agricultural regions for the past 15 years, and found these conditions will be the new normal.

CBH Group is planning to launch a full review of its cooperative structure after formally rejecting a proposal from Australian Grains Champion to corporatise and list the business on the ASX.

West Leederville-based commercial fishing company Austral Fisheries has become the first seafood business in the world to be certified as carbon neutral.

Grower feedback has led the Australian Grains Champion to remove two clauses from its proposal to corporatise CBH Group, with the consortium continuing to criticize the CBH board’s handling of the matter.

The Australian Grain Champion’s proposal to demutualise CBH will most likely be rejected by the CBH board, but it could be the catalyst for a CBH-led demutualisation.

ANALYSIS: CBH has served WA grain growers for more than 80 years, but debate is raging about whether now is the time to kill the co-op.

Former Skilled Group executive David Timmel has been appointed to the top job at Perth Markets, the newly formed company that has acquired the Perth Market Authority’s Market City.

The Mowanjum Aboriginal Corporation plans to seek private partners to fund an expansion of its irrigated farming operation near Derby after the state government granted an option for freehold tenure over its land.

Shares in agribusiness Wellard have fallen 9.2 per cent as the company revealed its first financial result since listing in December last year, while also flagging a reduction in expected net profit.

SPECIAL REPORT: Garden products manufacturer Richgro has marked its centenary by completing a major capital project that adds a new dimension to the business.

Shares in sandalwood producer TFS Corporation were up nearly 25 per cent today after the company announced an increase in profit, but declared no interim dividend.

Grain handler CBH Group has called for more information on the $1 billion-plus offer from Graincorp-backed Australian Grains Champion to corporatise and list the cooperative, highlighting concerns around long term cost increases, the proportion of grower ownership and board representation.

Sydney-based GrainCorp has emerged as a cornerstone investor in a bid to corporatise and list CBH Group, through a complex deal that would deliver up to $1 billion in cash plus share

PHOTO ESSAY and MULTIMEDIA: A focus on sustainability and environmentally friendly fishing is proving a boon for WA seafood producers.

The state government has completed the first in a series of planned asset sales, announcing that it has concluded negotiations with an industry consortium to purchase the Perth Market Authority’s Market City.

Shares in recently-listed seafoods business Mareterram lifted today on news it has purchased the business that owns the 'Famous Australian Seafoods' brand for $1.3 million.

One industry to benefit from reduced mining activity is agriculture, particularly sheep meat production.

Grain handler CBH Group has revealed an $82.7 million net profit for the 2014-15 year, although its storage and handling business performed much better than the larger trading arm.

Shares in Perth-based Carbon Conscious have surged on news it commenced milk production at a Chinese-owned dairy farm in the South West, with the company planning to expand its cow herd by nearly 500 per cent by 2017.

A local seafoods business led by Peter Hutchinson and David Lock has had a positive debut on the ASX, after raising over $18 million from investors and completing a major corporate restructure.

The state’s largest agricultural lobby group has reported its first operating surplus since 2010, which was largely attributable to a reduction in costs.

A Perth man who cheated Indonesian farmers out of more than $600,000 by falsely claiming to sell Australian cattle "greatly tarnished" business relations between the countries, a judge says.

The Spud King’s battle with potato regulators is a flagship fight for those who want to cut red tape.

An industry consortium led by members of the Chamber of Fruit and Vegetable Industries in WA has been selected as the preferred bidder for Market City, putting the state government a step closer to its first major asset sale.

Publicly-listed almond grower and health food retailer Select Harvests has sold its Western Australian orchard project for $9.5 million, following $60 million of write-downs over the past three years.