After being the perennial subject of industry rumours, AWB and ABB have finally publicly admitted they are in discussions regarding a possible merger.
Speculation has been rife that the companies would be a good fit for each other, and the chiefs of both companies, Gordon Davis and Michael Iwaniw have both stated that further industry consolidation is inevitable.
AWB today advised the market it was in merger discussions with ABB.
If agreed, any merger would proceed by way of a scheme of arrangement and would be subject to shareholder, court and regulatory approvals and other conditions agreed to by the parties.
AWB shares have today gone up 7.9pc or 24c to $3.43 and ABB shares have gone up 12.8pc or 83c to $7.32.
It has been estimated that the merger would be worth in excess of $2 billion and would result in Australia's largest wheat and barley exporting company, with huge geographical reach in the market.
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