Australasian Food Corporation Ltd to purchase Longview Estate Vineyard

Friday 19th February 2016

Australasian Food Corporation Ltd (AFC), the NZAX listed food exporter has signed an agreement to purchase Whangarei based wine maker Longview Estate.

The Vineyard was established by the Vuletich family in 1969. The Vuletich family pioneered winemaking in the Whangarei District. The Vineyard is best known for its White Diamond wine which has a distinctive authentic fresh taste which is very attractive to Asian palates.

Mr. Brent King, Director of AFC said, “Mr. Xia, the largest shareholder of AFC via his private company NZ Silveray Ltd, has been reviewing a number opportunities to export high quality food products to China. When wine from Whangarei was first suggested there was considerable skepticism as it was not a region known for its quality wines. As AFC undertook further research it became clear that the White Diamond Wine was very popular with New Zealand based Asian purchasers and that it was frequently given as a quality gift. This came as a surprise to a most people. AFC will own 51% of the Vineyard owning company, Australasian Food Corporation Longview Ltd, and there will be two other shareholders, NZ Silveray Group Ltd with 19% and a Chinese national Ms. Yinrui Shen with 30%. AFC’s investment is $1,224,000 for its 51%. AFC will pay its contribution from cash reserves.”

“AFC is very pleased that it has reached an agreement with Mr. Mario Vuletich and his daughter Maree to continue working for the company. AFC will benefit from the depth of knowledge Mario and Maree have in Longview Estate and in the wine industry in general,” said Mr. King

Mr. King also commented, “AFC has made progress in developing the exporting business. In addition to the already announced purchase of National Dairy Group Ltd, AFC has more recently set up a team specialising in International trade focusing on China. This Group operates through the subsidiary AFC International Trading Group Ltd. The team is in its early stages, however there has been some promising progress made and we are hopeful of the group will make a very positive contribution to the financial results in the year ended 31March 2017”.

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