RZ-100-wt4-E-flipbook-240702 - Flipbook - Page 92
No need for an injunction, as at five to midnight –
On 21 July, BP-Nutrition agrees to the takeover bid
literally five minutes before the 12 a.m. ultimatum
of the Rijk Zwaan Board after all (with co-financing
expires – director Ben Tax receives a message
from Cebeco). This agreement gives Cebeco the
from Asgrow requesting that the Asgrow
majority of the shares (70 per cent), but the Board
employees be sent away from the warehouse.
stipulates equal independence (control split 50/50
between the Rijk Zwaan Board and Cebeco).
In the days that followed, Rijk Zwaan continues to
In order to guarantee this independence, the
send fax messages to BP in which all the parties
Board – in close consultation with its lawyer,
– the Board, directors, subsidiaries, management
Mr Voûte – has the agreements between the two
team and works council – reiterate their objections
shareholders laid down in detail in the articles of
to Asgrow’s takeover in writing.
association and shareholders’ agreement, based
on the previous agreement with Cebeco before
On 20 July 1989, Ben Tax receives a phone call
the bid was made. It is also agreed that if either
from the law firm: ‘The sale is final.’ So it seems that
party wants to sell its shares, those shares must
Rijk Zwaan has lost the battle after all, but the next
first be offered to the other party.
day the phone rings again. The Board members
are invited to the offices of BP’s lawyers for new
negotiations. It seems that the sustained objections
on the part of Rijk Zwaan have not missed their
mark on the other side of the North Sea.
‘We kept threatening to give negative
‘The moment BP Nutrition agreed to the
advice to BP-Nutrition. We hammered
management buyout was such a relief!
on three conditions: keeping Rijk Zwaan
completely intact, image and identity
guarantees and no layoffs.’
Alex Solleveld
Chairman of the
Works Council
in 1989.
90
We celebrated this with champagne
outside on the premises.The colleagues
were very happy with the news.’
Linda van Veen
Secretary of
Ben Tax in 1989 and
still in 2024.
Rijk Zwaan | Moving forward together
