Foreign investment in Aotearoa/New Zealand
2019
Overseas Investment Office – Decisions
Commentary and Index prepared by CAFCA.
All spelling of geographic and company names is as supplied by the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) unless otherwise it is clear from the context that the source is from elsewhere. Errors are those of the OIO. Information quoted, unless otherwise noted, comes from the Decision Sheets of the Office. Copies of the Decision Sheets can be seen on the Land Information New Zealand website.
Contents
January 2019 decisions
OneFortyOne (Australia) buys more NZ forests
February 2019 decisions
Craigmore apples get consent this time; Tamarind to suck Taranaki oil fields dry; Methven tapware bought up by Australian GWA; Mexican Finaccess Capital gobbles up Restaurant Brands; Japanese Oji buys more NZ forest; Scentre buys land to expand Westfield shopping centre, Albany;
March 2019 decisions
More forestry consolidation by Rayonier/Matariki and Oji/Pan Pac; Trade Me takeover by UK private equity; Australian private equity funds juggle ownership of NZ private hospitals; Merck/Antelliq merger includes NZ ear tags; T&G’s tenth lease for apple orchards; Marine Power expands in Tamaki; Consent not needed as McMillan Shakespeare/Eclipx merger fails;
April 2019 decisions
Two Fletchers consents indicate softer OIO rules; Fletchers renews Placemakers lease at Pakuranga; Danish Seed Coop buys PGGW seeds from “bad characters” at Agria; Mortgage-backed securities for BNZ to meet Reserve Bank requirements; Another private equity takeover of MYOB; Equity funds fight over Healthscope’s Australian hospitals and NZ pathology labs; CDL Land’s next development is in Havelock North; Invesco private equity buys another bit of Auckland CBD; Austrian to plant new forest in Masterton; Dutch expand Invercargill tulip growing; American neighbours lease a bit of Craigieburn Station, Arthurs Pass; Danone increases share of milk powder producer Yashili to 65%;
May 2019 decisions
Minister Sage blocks OceanaGold purchase of unnamed land in Waihi …but OIO gives Oceana consent on four residential sections …then Ministers change their mind about the declined Oceana application; Port Blakely buys Clutha Forests; New Forests Fund buys Hikurangi Forests, Gisborne; Oil man offset by forestry in Wairoa and Eketahuna; French giant Lactalis buys into NZ infant formula for China; Craigmore Permanent Crop buys Kerikeri dairy land for kiwifruit, and… German asset managers buy 49% of Craigmore Permanent Crop; Craggy Range Vineyard to develop more Martinborough land; Negociants expands its Nautilus Estate winery, Blenheim; GH Westbury acquires more Matamata land for horses; Equity fund investors acquire Polarcold Stores; Private schools change private equity owners; SkyCity to build lakeside hotel in Queenstown; Chinese group buys land for residential housing; NZ lifestyles: Robert Hickson, Blue Carbon Services;
June 2019 decisions
New Forests expands in Wairarapa and in Marlborough; Craigmore buys land for forestry in Northland for Swiss backers; Japanese Pan Pac buys Tiropai Forest in Hawkes Bay; Nippon Paint buys Dulux; Australian Joval Wines buys Otago vineyard; US/Australian winemakers buy Escarpment vineyard; Graymont expands lime quarrying in Te Kuiti (and globally); Metlifecare Gets A Rubber Stamp; Ryman Healthcare buys Christchurch land from Ngai Tahu; Brierley leases Wynyard Council land to expand Orams and build housing; Emirates buys into Blackstone Property, including Wynyard Precinct; Auckland International College expands boarding facilities; Vitaco leases warehouse space in Tamaki;
July 2019 decisions
Infratil and Brookfield equity funds buy Vodafone NZ; Mediaworks and QMS Media merge; New Forests Fund buys Kennington Forest, Marlborough; Issoria Offshore (UK) buys Hakahaka and Underwood forests; Craigmore and GlenSilva buy Wairarapa forest and farm; OIO gives Metlifecare consent to expand Kerikeri retirement village; OIO gives Ryman the rubber stamp; Chinese Yili Group buys Westland Dairy Coop; Waikato-Tainui leases to investor partnership for an inland port at Ruakura; Malaysians to build 15 townhouses for sale in Avondale, Auckkand; Oil man buys more Wairoa forest;
August 2019 decisions
OIO takes enforcement action; OIO consent exemption for Mercury declined; Bathurst bets $680,000 on future consents to expand Canterbury coal mine to fuel dairy; Mud House and Waipara Hill wines in private equity buy-up of Accolade Wines Australia; Global Ag consent declined for Hawkes Bay vineyards; Next Capital private equity buys NZ Bus from Infratil; City Developments Singapore to delist Millennium & Copthorne; CDL Land buys land for residential development in Havelock North; PAG Group buys yet another Manson development in Auckland CBD; Ryman Healthcare buys Anglican land in Christchurch; New Forests Marberry buys Northbank and Benhopai Forests from Koreans; Grandy Lake Forest expands in Wairoa; Austrian count buys Masterton farms for forestry development; Millbrook Country Club buys adjoining land in Arrowtown; Chinese-owned Mataura Milk buys up neighbours in Gore; More land for T&G apples in Hawke’s Bay; Preformed Line Products buys its leased land in East Tamaki; Fisher & Paykel buys residential unit for a showroom; OIO takes enforcement action;
September 2019 decisions
Pan Pac gets rubber stamp for forestry; Matariki Forests in joint venture with hapü owners of Esk Forest, Hawkes Bay; Matariki Forests buys two Southland forests; China Forestry Group buys forests in Rotorua, Whanganui and Northland; Kauri Forestry (Craigmore) buys Whangarei farmland for conversion; Issoria (Virgin Islands) buys third forest; Austrian count buys two more farms for forestry conversion; Austrian billionaire buys land for forestry conversion; Malaysian Tiong Family gets rubber stamp for Neil houses; Universal Homes buys Housing NZ land in Northcote for redevelopment; Coxco Farming can lease residential accommodation for seasonal workers; NZ payments systems acquired by a different set of private equity funds; Goodman industrial development in Mangere; EnviroWaste buys Pokeno quarry land for recycling centre; Malaysian conglomerate Sime Darby Berhad buys up Gough heavy machinery; Retrospective consent for Zhang Zhou family, Karaka; Ministers decline US consent for Hawkes Bay luxury lodge;
October 2019 decisions
Labour Ministers let OceanaGold buy more Waihi land for tailings ponds; Ministers reject Canadian investment in Canterbury dairying; Ministers give US Redwood Co a rubber stamp; NZ Forest Industries buys more forestry land near Blenheim; Kauri Forestry/Craigmore buys land for forest conversion in Northland; Swiss investors Corisol convert farmland into forestry; Livingbridge private equity fund now fully owns Habit occupational health services; Neil to develop residential housing in Flatbush, Auckland; Chinese Universal Homes to build on Hobsonville defence land; Summerset retirement villages for Rangiora and Cambridge; Ministers decline consent for Queenstown development; French government to buy up Howick & Eastern buses and lease bus depot; AMP Finance Services changes hands; Kelly Tarlton’s aquarium part of offshore Lego deal; Danish PGG Wrightson Seeds leases Canterbury land;
November 2019 decisions
Ministers give consent for first Drylandcarbon forestry carbon farm; Corisol buys another farm for forestry in Otago; New Forests fund buys Mangaroa Forest cutting rights; …and forest, cutting rights and snails in Levin; …and Tregoweth Forest, Benneydale, King Country; Woolworths gets a rubber stamp; Israeli billionaire takeover of oil & gas exploration; Griffins part of joint German/Filipino snack attack on Oceania; Harmoney has marketised your peer-to-peer loan;
December 2019 decisions
Wilmar buy-out of joint venture partner Goodman Fielder includes Pühoi cheese; AMP equity fund to buy 40% of Wiri Prison public private partnership; US spare parts giant GPC plans automated distribution centre in Wiri; China Forestry to buy Pinehills Forest, Hunterville; Woolworths to develop Countdown supermarket in Lincoln; Chinese to build apartments in Rothesay Bay, Auckland; Inner Mongolia to acquire Highview Stud, Hamilton;
Numbers of approved, declined and price deleted Decisions
| Jan 2019 | Feb 2019 | Mar 2019 | Apr 2019 | May 2019 | Jun 2019 | Jul 2019 | Aug 2019 | Sep 2019 | Oct 2019 | Nov 2019 | Dec 2019 | Total 2019 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deletions | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 53 |
| Approvals | 1 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 16 | 9 | 8 | 136 |
| Declined | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
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