By Adam Ray
Hanover shareholders have taken a punt and voted to merge with Allied Farmers, but they've done it by a pencil-thin margin.
The vote was held in Auckland today, less than a month after Allied directors made the offer.
The merger needed 75 percent support. One investors group passed it by just 0.5 percent more than that.
Allied's shareholders had already backed the merger. Fourteen thousand Hanover investors will now join them as shareholders.
"I did vote for it and that was just because I thought I'd take the faint chance that it was better," says Hanover investor Jan Older.
Cameras weren't allowed inside. Hanover's management told investors to vote yes, saying the company is facing receivership in its current state.
Allied has problems too, its shares worth just 19c.
One investor told the meeting he had concerns about Allied's debts and share price. He said he wouldn't dream of investing his own money in the company.
Experts predict many Hanover investors will cash up and sell, flooding the market with cheap shares.
"Roughly 1.9 billion shares will be issued," says financial advisor Murray Weatherston. "Most of those will go to weak hands. Weak hands typically sell."
Mr Weatherston says he'll only buy them if they drop to 2c a share. Other experts are advising Hanover investors to be patient.
"There will be some people who will want to sell them, but we'll say hold on and see what happens in the future," says Edward Lee, sharebroker.
The merger means Hanover's current management and shareholder Mark Hotchin are now out of a job.
"I think I'll just keep my head down for a long time and get on with it," says Mr Hotchin.
Hanover investors will be looking to get on with it too when they become Allied shareholders early next week.
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