While big business battles for control of the Warrnambool dairy producer, farmers are undecided.
Nick Renyard's farm is far from the clang and clatter of city traffic and investment bankers' offices. Bush and bird song line the road to the third-generation dairy farmer's property nestled in the rolling green hills south of Timboon, in Victoria's Western District.
Mr Renyard's association with Warrnambool Cheese & Butter is more than just that of a supplier and processor. His father John was director at the company, and Mr Renyard, 39, has owned WCB shares longer than he can remember.
''I've had them since I was a little kid,'' he said. ''I can't remember exactly how long I've had them but when I got them they were $2 ordinary shares and there were 500.''
Almost all of Australia's main milk processors, including NSW's Bega Cheese and the country's biggest milk processor, Murray Goulburn, have entered a global bidding war for WCB, which until recently was little known outside its home base in south-west Victoria
The company is well placed to take advantage of an Asian boom, which is being fuelled by increased affluence and appetites for a more Western diet.
''Say, for example, Murray Goulburn took over Warrnambool, we really only have one other major player down here [Fonterra] that we could potentially sell milk to, but they probably have limited capacity to take more milk.''
Murray Goulburn has offered $7.50 cash per share for WCB, compared with Saputo's $8 cash a share, which is subject to Foreign Investment Review Board approval, and Bega's $2 cash plus 1.2 of its shares for every WCB share, which values the bid at $7.57.
The offers came after a collapse in international dairy commodity prices and a disastrous joint cheese venture between WCB and National Foods (now called Lion), which weakened the company and led to an exodus of farmers to rival processors. WCB could not afford the $50 million for its 50 per cent stake in the venture, and cut the price of milk it was buying from farmers.
Mr Renyard is concerned a takeover by Murray Goulbourn, which has a 17 per cent stake in Warrnambool, could again put farmers' milk payments at risk.
He points to their debt levels; ''there have been so many figures thrown around - anywhere from 53 per cent,'' he said. ''Murray Goulburn taking on so much more debt should be a concern for everyone because that interest needs to be serviced … well, it would be from farmers' payments.''
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