Fonterra announced that its shareholders had voted "overwhelmingly" in favour of the first two steps of the Co-op's capital restructure plan at its AGM today. The result means Fonterra's farmer-shareholders will retain full control and ownership of the dairy giant. Here is the announcement from Fonterra:

Fonterra shareholders today voted overwhelmingly in favour of the first two steps of the Co-operative's new capital structure at the Annual Meeting in Ashburton. Shareholders passed two special resolutions in support of the first two capital structure steps, both of which required a 75% shareholder vote under the Co-operative's constitution. Resolution 1 "“ Strengthening the Share Structure, received an 89% vote. Resolution 2 "“ Restricted Share Value also received an 89% vote. Fonterra Chairman, Sir Henry van der Heyden, said the high vote expressed "great confidence in the Co-operative and our future." "It is also a great comment on our farmer shareholders," he said. "They told us they wanted to retain 100% control and ownership of our Co-operative. They said give us the opportunity to back our Co-operative. Today they have stepped up to the plate in a big way to strengthen our Co-op." Sir Henry said that future generations of Fonterra farming families would look back on this day as a significant step in Fonterra's evolution. "The past twelve months has also done a lot to build Co-operative spirit. The Board of Directors, Shareholders' Council, Management, our field team staff and our shareholders have all worked hard and pulled together to make this happen."