A BUYOUT of Fonterra's Dennington factory by another company is unlikely, according to the dairy giant's general manager for operations.
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Rob Howell said the company had exhausted all options in its bid to keep the factory open.
"We don't really believe there are any viable alternatives to the decision we've made but if a credible offer comes along, we'll consider it," Mr Howell said.
He said a shrinking milk pool meant the factory had only been operating at 30 per cent capacity since October last year.
"The board made the decision early yesterday morning," Mr Howell said.
"To be honest, it's an annual process we go through to look at the efficiency of all our operations."
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Mr Howell said staff had been given details of their redundancy packages at a meeting on Thursday morning.
"Each worker received a pack today and in that is an estimate of their redundancy," he said.
Mr Howell said the company would try and redeploy workers where possible.
"We will have a look and where possible - where we have vacancies at other sites - we will try and match people who want to find another job with redeployment opportunities, but I need to be a realist and say we won't be able to redeploy the whole workforce."
Mr Howell said Fonterra was keen to work with the community on the future of assets such as the town's hall.
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He said no decision had been made on whether that would be sold or retained by Fonterra.'
"We want to work with the community and the stakeholders to ensure we do whatever we can to ease this transition," he said.
Mr Howell, who previously worked at the Dennington site, said it was a very tough decision the company had to make.
"It was really difficult news to convey," he said.
Mr Howell said he had been extremely impressed by the level of professionalism shown by workers who were advised they were being made redundant.
"The professionalism and proactivity they have shown already gives me a sense of pride," he said.
Staff were told the factory would close in November at a meeting on Wednesday afternoon.
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