Maybe third time’s a charm?

Wilmar’s Sucrogen is left with bitter taste in their mouths as the sugar company fails for the second time to get support for the Proserpine acquisition.

An announcement by Wilmar said its Australian-based sugar subsidiary is disappointed it was unable to secure the necessary level of support from Proserpine Co-operative Sugar Milling Association members to enable its proposed purchase of Proserpine Sugar Mill to proceed.

“Although Sucrogen received majority support, with 69% voting for the sale to Sucrogen, it did not receive the requisite 75% of the valid votes cast,” said Wilmar.

Sucrogen CEO Ian Glasson said, “We decided to put our offer to a second vote because of how narrowly we missed out last time. Unfortunately, we’ve fallen short by just a handful of people again, which is very disappointing for us and also for the overwhelming majority of members who voted ‘yes’.”

Mr Glasson said Sucrogen would be advising the Proserpine Board of its intention to recover its loan to Proserpine.

Sucrogen announced in June that it had entered into an agreement with Proserpine to purchase the association’s business assets for A$115 million, on a debt-free and cash-free basis. On 25 October, Sucrogen announced it would provide an extra A$5 million in net sale proceeds to ensure members would receive a greater financial return from the sale.