Bid to buy iconic honey producer Comvita out of its troubles rejected by shareholders

Friday, 14 November 2025

Comvita’s board will shift its attention to alternative recapitalisation plans, chairperson Bridget Coates says.

Shareholders of listed honey maker Comvita have rejected a deal that would have seen one of New Zealand’s richest men making a bid to take the company private.

A subsidiary of billionaire Mark Stewart’s Masthead Limited, Florenz, a natural health product export business, offered to buy all shares in Comvita through a court-approved scheme of arrangement for 80 cents per share, valuing the company at $56 million.

Throughout the week the NZX had reported how many shareholders had voted “yes” or “no” to the deal - a deal would have been sealed with a “yes” vote from 75% those that voted, which had to see 50% or more of all shareholders participating.

Some 80.3% of shareholders voted - 53.7% were in favour while 29.8% were against and 6.6% did not indicate a preference.

Chairperson Bridget Coates told shareholders the board had notified its banking syndicate that, based on the information before it, the vote was unlikely to succeed.

“We have requested their further support to provide time to recapitalise the business in a way that secures their long-term support and the financial viability of the business, for the benefit of all shareholders,” Coates said.

“This work is progressing with urgency and discipline to secure a solution that stabilises the business, positions it to grow again, and reduces ongoing risk to shareholders.”

The final voting result would be released to the NZX on Monday.

Issues

The honey exporter reached a crunch point earlier this year and sat down with independent advisers, Craigs Investment Partners and Goldman Sachs to consider its options. Those options included potential acquisitions such as that presented by Florenz, the issuing of bonds or an equity capital raise.

Comvita said at the time that if it was not bought it would pursue a capital raise or refinancing, “but there is no certainty either would be successful and, in any event, would likely be on less favourable terms with potential erosion of existing shareholder interests.

“Even if a capital raising or refinancing were successful, there would continue to be uncertainty around the time and extent to which the turnaround could be delivered compared with the defined outcome offered by the Scheme.”

The company’s largest shareholder with a 12.12% stake is Li Wang, who backed the acquisition by Florenz. But others, including co-founder Alan Bougen who established the business with the late Claude Stratford in 1974, felt the purchase price of $56m, was a 'fire sale' price that didn't reflect the true value of Comvita's brand or its net tangible assets.

Mike Tod, Florenz's CEO, said the acquisition would strengthen his company’s ability to 'support global wellbeing through trusted, science-backed products' by aligning Comvita's innovation, quality, and sustainability with Florenz's export growth strategy.

Comvita’s share price has dropped this week and was down 7.56% today on news the deal had been rejected.