Bega extends WCB takeover offer as Saputo increases stake Still in the race: Bega Cheese has extended its bid for Warrnambool Cheese and Butter. Bega chairman Barry Irvin says a super Australian dairy company could be formed if Murray Goulburn accepts its bid for Warrnambool Cheese and Butter. NSW-based Bega Cheese is the only company which can process acceptances in the three-way global tussle for WCB, a position Mr Irvin said was ironic. ""The irony is that there is so many twists and turns in this that we are in a bit of a unique position today that we wouldn't have expected to be in,"" Mr Irvin told Fairfax Media. But Mr Irvin said acceptances had slowed, with WCB shareholders becoming exhausted and confused by the bidding process, particularly with the involvement of the tribunal and Takeovers Panel. But since the bidding war began in September, analysts, and farmer shareholders have suggested the possibility of Bega, which owns about 18.3 per cent of WCB, and Murray Goulburn, which owns another 17 per cent, joining forces to keep Warrnambool in Australian hands. Murray Goulburn managing director Gary Helou, who argues that MG's bid would created a ""super-sized cooperative"" to take on the world, has rejected a merger with Bega. ""The brutal reality is we are not going to sell into Bega,"" he told shareholders at Murray Goulburn's annual meeting last month. ""Bega has got to sell into us, or merge with us. ""We are a co-operative. We don't want to mess with that structure. It's absolutely non-negotiable."" But Mr Irvin wasn't as blunt. ""We are having people saying that to us,"" Mr Irvin said. ""You can kind of understand why people out there say ""doesn't that make sense?"." ""I suppose the reality is one of the ways of joining forces is one of us accepting the other's bid. But there have been no discussions in terms of that."" Mr Irvin said under companies law, Murray Goulburn and Bega were prevented from discussing a possible merger until the bidding process was completed. ""We can't suddenly decide we'll forget what we said in our bidder's statement and ... go do something different. ""And while we are both significant shareholders, we are bound by legal processes that don't allow us to suddenly wake up one morning and say "I'll know what we do".""" When asked if Murray Goulburn's $9.50 offer was tempting, Mr Irvin said: ""It's a very dangerous psychology if I say "I think I'll be a buyer, I think I'll be a seller"." At the moment we are a buyer"." ""Our thought and focus is entirely on being successful with that bid process. When the day comes that we elect to end that process, we'll then think about what our next piece of strategy might be."" But Mr Irvin joked that Bega could be the only suitor left standing if the tribunal and takeovers panel annulled Murray Goulburn and Saputo's bids. ""We could be the only ones,"" he said.