Synlait, page-170

If they could just figure out a path to a joint venture takeover of Synlait, it would be great for all involved, including for the reason you mentioned.

I think A2M would go for this, based on their track record of partnering with the Chinese. Bright maybe less so. The Bright Dairy Chairman's comments the other day I thought were very deliberately paternalistic. He effectively said, we are the parents here, we want these two squabbling children to get along and work together as they need each other.

With my expert HotCopper reading-between-the-lines glasses, I took the comments as positioning A2 as a subordinate who needs to get in line, rather than as a potential partner they would negotiate with. I'm quite pleased to see A2M pushing back and hopefully challenging this dynamic. It's risky but I think they have more leverage in the situation then many people realise.