olam's intentions

As a shareholder in SHV, my interest is in the management of Australian almond plantations acquired by Olam and how they perceive SHV.
Whilst no mention has been made by SHV as to a permanent arrangement with Olam they continue to manage Olam's newly acquired orchards. Although they are doing this on a temporary basis SHV appeared extremely confident(at the annual shareholder's meeting) that the company did not have concerns about this.

The directors and management of SHV have significant personal holdings in the company; they continue to buy shares; have bought shares at much higher prices and given that some of these board members are close to retirement reflects a great deal of continued confidence in the company they have built over time.

It is highly informative to read the 2009 annual report of Olam

http://olam.listedcompany.com/misc/Olam%2009AR%202Oct_Full_S.pdf

This quote from page 31 of the report spells out Olam's intentions very clearly:
"Thus for example, we intend to achieve
a global leadership position in the almond business over the
next six years (depicted in red) and to be integrated upstream,in Olams core as well as midstream. The chart (chart 7)also shows that this value chain integration in almonds will be achieved inorganically."
Chart 7 includes the statement that almonds have been highlighted for major inorganic expansion in midstream operations.(Olamspeak for acquisitions).

SHV has a very good record of managing orchards and sufficient processing capacity to cope with the expected increase in demand for almond products in the coming years.

Olam have a very clearly defined strategy and the eventual sale of Timbercorp's holding in SHV will possibly precipitate an interest in all of SHV. This can only bode well for all SHV shareholders.


Do your own research. This is just my opinion and not advice
which I am not qualified to offer!