By 3 News online staff
Fonterra shareholders today voted in favour of implementing Trading Among Farmers.
Fonterra chairman Sir Henry van der Hayden says the final vote on the share trading scheme attracted a record voter turnout, and 66.45 percent of voters were in favour of the change.
The Trading Among Farmers scheme allows dairy farmers to buy and sell shares in the co-operative among themselves, rather than only to Fonterra, and a separate fund will make non-voting units available to non-farmer investors for the first time.
The Fonterra Shareholders' Council, a watchdog body, had already endorsed the new capital structure by an "overwhelming" majority, although its chairman Simon Couper resigned because of his concern the proposals did not sufficiently guarantee the bottom-line of 100 percent farmer ownership.
Fonterra is responsible for about 30 percent of the world's dairy exports and is New Zealand's biggest company in revenue terms with annual turnover of $19.91 billion.
3 News/NZN