By Colin Packham
SYDNEY, March 17 (Reuters) - Australia's largest grain exporter, Cooperative Bulk Handling Ltd (CBH), said on Thursday it is open to options with regards its structure, heading off a consortium that is aiming to gain enough shareholder support to revive a takeover bid.
Australian Grains Champion (AGC) - a consortium backed by GrainCorp Ltd GNC.AX - is attempting to garner support of 10 percent of CBH's 4,200 shareholders to force an emergency general meeting to demand a vote on the takeover proposal, sources told Reuters earlier this week. rejecting AGC's offer, CBH said on Monday it would consult shareholders on its future. AGC however says CBH's management wants the enterprise to remain a cooperative, a claim rejected by CBH.
"Growers will get a say on CBH's structure and all the options available to them, not just one sub-optimal option proposed by AGC," CBH Chief Executive Officer Andy Crane told Reuters.
Crane's comments come as CBH seeks to ensure shareholder support amid a campaign by AGC to win over growers in Australia's largest wheat producing region.
"There's been nothing on the table for 15 years and the best CBH can do is promise an interim report in six months time," said Brad Jones, an AGC director.
AGC wants to buy and immediately list the bulk grain handler in a deal valued by analysts at up A$3 billion ($2.28 billion)
Several farmer shareholders have committed to AGC's proposal, but a source close to CBH said it was "extremely comfortable" with the decision to reject the offer.
"The AGC proposal was offering nothing that we couldn't do for ourselves if we thought it was the right thing to do, and they are doing it in a way that takes a lot of money out of the business," said one source familiar with the thinking of the CBH board.
The CBH board unanimously voted to reject the AGC offer, the source said.
Analysts believe CBH will eventually move away from its pure cooperative structure, though the bulk grain handler said earlier this week it had received several expressions of interest from third parties.
CBH declined to elaborate on whether the third parties were offering similar terms to those proposed by AGC.
($1 = 1.3173 Australian dollars)