SHAREHOLDERS in Colac lamb processor CRF have snubbed supermarket giant Coles' bid for the business.
The company is set to accept a last-minute bid from EC Agribusiness after more than 60 per cent of its 24 shareholders voted against the Coles offer.
CRF board chairman Allan McCallum and director Michael Tighe - members of a committee which had recommended the Coles bid to shareholders - resigned in the wake of the decision.
In April, The Weekly Times revealed Coles - which accounts for 90 per cent of CRF's business - told CRF it would no longer process its lamb through the abattoir if CRF sold to a rival bidder.
The rival consortium included CRF chief executive and major shareholder Jack Barclay.
Under the ECA offer, Mr Barclay retains his shares and stays on to manage the business.
Shareholder and Liberal MP Simon Ramsay said Colac would "be a significant beneficiary" of the decision.
Several sources say the ECA offer is about 50 cents a share, with shareholders to be paid by September 30.
The Coles offer equated to about 28 cents a share to be paid initially, with one source arguing the offer would eventually have equated to 50.3 cents a share.
However, several sources have said the extra money from Coles involved CRF putting $2 million into a trust account to be released when its conditions had been met. EC Agribusiness managing director Gary Edwards said he would run CRF "at its fullest capacity".
"Ideally, we'll talk with Coles in the next fortnight to understand their short and long-term position," he said.
A spokesman for Coles was disappointed but "accepted the shareholders' decision".
"Coles will reinstitute a competitive tender for its business, we'll look to finalise that," the spokesman said.
Mr McCallum and Mr Barclay declined to comment.
