Parmalat shareholder meeting delayed

The board of Italian dairy group Parmalat has agreed to postpone its annual shareholders meeting from the middle of April to June.

Three Italian banks including Intesa Sanpaolo, which owns 2.4 percent of Parmalat, wanted the delay to give them more time to fend off France’s Lactalis, which has bought a 28.9 percent stake in Parmalat.

The banks are trying to put together an Italian consortium to take control of it.

Lactalis has proposed a slate of directors that would give it a majority of board seats.

Italy’s government, which favours an Italian solution for Parmalat, had approved a special decree allowing the company to postpone its shareholder meeting until June.

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