LIC makes $109m bid for similar agri tech business in Israel

A cutting-edge agri tech company in New Zealand wants to buy into similar company in Israel.

The Livestock Improvement Corporation, or LIC, has bid for 50 percent of the Israeli company, Afimilk.

The proposed cost is $US70 million ($109 million).

The deal still needs approval from shareholders of both companies.

LIC managers in New Zealand said they would push for acceptance of the deal with a series of roadshows for farmers around the country.

They said Afimilk had a global presence, including in New Zealand.

Its milk meters, behaviour sensors, and farm management software were especially successful in Europe and North America.

The chaiman Murray King said the investment would help give LIC access to the data it needed to improve dairy output.

"It's vital we keep our world-leading edge in pastoral dairy farming data, while broadening access to new information to meet future needs and challenges," King said.

"The investment in Afimilk will do that."

The investment would be funded mainly by debt, but King expected the dividends from the share in Afimilk would be sufficient to meet all interest costs.

"This is a sound strategic proposition for our business, which will further strengthen and grow our co-op," he said.

"Afimilk is a leader in its field and has been on our radar for a number of years."

King said Afimilk was profitable, had no debt, and had historically paid dividends to its shareholders.

LIC is a 110-year-old farmer-owned co-operative that focuses on agri tech for the dairy industry.

Afimilk is a trading branch of a partly-privatised kibbutz in the northern Israeli town of Afikim.

As a result of the latest developments, a trading halt in LIC shares has been lifted.

One of Afimilk's specialities is a collar-fitted to cows that monitors health, determines how hot the animal is, and reports on its rumination and eating.

The collars are sold by Afimilk to New Zealand farmers.