Two of the largest service providers of the New Zealand kiwifruit industry are seeking a merger in between them in the next year. The post harvest service providers Satara and EastPack Cooperative Group have declared their plans of merger to create a fully grower owned supply cooperative in the next year but the deal still needs a approval from their shareholders to be completed.

In a joint statement the chairmen of the two companies said that a merger would not only optimize the quality and efficiencies but it would also lead the business to be successful in the global market and raise the kiwifruit export of New Zealand.

The merger needs at least 75% approval of the shareholders of each company, approval from the banks, grower commitments and limits to the number of shareholders of each company to be completed successfully.

The chairperson of Satara, Hendrik Pieters has told to the NZPA that the company is fully excited over the proposal of the merger which would bring 100% grower ownership to the new company. Both the companies are focused on providing high quality fruits to the market.