The acceptance level must be a record for a company whose shares trade on a public market.
Shanghai Pengxin and partners Juliet Maclean and John Penno have extended their $2.10 a share offer until January 29 as they await approval from the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) in New Zealand and from Chinese regulatory authorities.
The OIO has said the final decision would be made by Government ministers Jonathon Coleman and Maurice Williamson, reflecting the political considerations around foreign investment..
Under the terms of the offer a price escalation clause applies from January 1, so the offer price rises 0.1957c a day until the offer is made unconditional.
The takeover vehicle SFL Holdings (SFLH) has said it would compulsorily acquire the shares for which there were no acceptances.
Maclean and Penno were founders of Synlait Farms and Maclean will remain as managing director.
She owns 16.1% of SFLH and Penno 10%, with Chinese group Shanghai Pengxin owning the majority shareholding.
