New Plymouth council gets green light to sell Tasmanian farms

Tuesday 8th December 2015

The Supreme Court of Victoria has lifted an interim block on New Plymouth District Council's sale of its Tasmanian farms, leaving jilted suitor TasFoods weighing up its options.

Melbourne based TasFoods, formerly known as OnCard International, lost its bid to extend an injunction of the sale until a full court hearing, which wouldn't occur until late March next year, it said in a statement. ASX listed TasFoods got an interim injunction from the court to stop New Plymouth council's investment arm from selling the Tasmanian-based Van Diemens Land farms to Chinese businessman Lu Xianfeng.

"The company is taking legal advice and considering its next steps," TasFoods said. "The company believes it has a strong claim and a further announcement will be made to ASX in due course."

TasFoods planned to sell up to 976 million shares at 25 Australian cents apiece, raising A$244 million toward the purchase, and its shares had soared to 68 cents on the prospect of the deal. Shareholders are scheduled to vote on whether to back the deal on Dec. 18.

The shares sank 24 percent to 33 Australian cents today.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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