SASKATOON (Staff) – While Saskatchewan Wheat Pool marches inexorably down the road to the Toronto Stock Exchange, opponents of the financial restructuring aren’t giving up the fight.
In a last-ditch effort to derail the plan, they’re urging pool members to sell their shares during the in-house trading period that begins Jan. 15.
“That’s the only weapon we’ve got left,” said Pelly-area farmer Victor Berezowski, member of an ad hoc group of pool members from northeastern Saskatchewan who have publicly opposed the pool’s plan. “We’ve got to the point now where the only way that we can stop this share offering is by taking our money out.”
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Opponents of the share conversion say the valuation, which concluded Class B pool shares would be worth between $11.50 and $14.50 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, understates the true value of the company since it focuses on the pool’s financial side.
“The value of the pool to a TSE investor may be far less than what it is to a farmer or someone in the grain industry,” said Regina-area member John Burton.
The last straw
Berezowski said the pool’s recent announcement of a joint venture with Cargill Ltd. to build a new grain terminal at Vancouver could be the last straw for many members who hadn’t decided whether to sell shares.
“That to me more than anything says the management of the pool has gone totally and completely away from the co-operative thought and ethic,” he said.
But pool chief executive officer Don Loewen said at a Dec. 22 news conference that he views the Cargill venture as a case of “fierce competitors” working together on a mutually beneficial project.
