Foreign investment in Aotearoa/New Zealand

Overseas Investment Office – May 2015 Decisions

Crown To Freehold 5,347 Hectares Near Queenstown

A busy month at the OIO, with a number of significant approvals. The most significant approval, in terms of sensitive land sales, was Mount Creighton Station Limited (as trustee for Mount Creighton Joint Venture), United States of America (67%) and New Zealand (33%), receiving approval for the acquisition of a freehold interest in approximately 5,347 hectares of land consequent upon the tenure review of Mount Creighton Station. Consideration was yet to be determined; the vendors were us, although it actually says Her Majesty the Queen (through the Commissioner of Crown Lands), New Zealand (100%).

The OIO states: “The proposed transaction is consequent upon a proposed statutory tenure review under the Crown Pastoral Land Act 1998”. Mt Creighton Station was originally acquired by the Mount Creighton Joint Venture in May 1999. It involved 15,824 hectares under a pastoral lease. Land Information New Zealand announced in May 2014 that the Station had a designation plan drawn up to divide the block. Under the plan, about 124 hectares will transfer to recreation reserve status, 10,337 hectares will become Conservation Area land and more than 5,000ha will be freehold to Mount Creighton Station Limited. See our June 2001 commentary for details of Mount Creighton’s owners buying the neighbouring and much larger Branches Station – 33,500 hectares under either leasehold or pastoral lease.

12,000 Hectare Mangakahia Forest Changes Hands Again

In another significant land sale (albeit already overseas-owned) Newforest Limited, Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Limited, Hong Kong (SAR) (60%) and Wai Leung Danny Wu, Hong Kong (SAR) (40%), has received approval for the acquisition of rights or interests in up to 100% of the shares of Greenheart Group Limited which owns or controls a freehold interest in 12,653 hectares of land at Mangakahia Forest Estate. Approval was also received for an overseas investment in significant business assets, being the Applicant’s acquisition of rights or interests in up to 100% of the shares of Greenheart Group Limited, the value of the assets of Greenheart Group Limited and its 25% or more subsidiaries being greater than $100m.

Consideration was stated at: “Up to $US79.5 million, of which $US45 million is paid to Sino-Capital Global Inc.”; the vendors were existing shareholders of Greenheart Group Limited Sino-Capital Global Inc. (62.8%), and Hong Kong Public (37.2%) The OIO simply states: “The Applicant is acquiring a forestry estate in Northland, which it has committed to replanting once harvested”. This forest appears to be one “hot potato” with ownership changing at regular intervals over the past few years. See our commentaries for December 1995, January 1996, March 2002, September 2009, October 2010 and February 2011 for details of other transactions involving this forest.

Hart To Sell Carters Building Supply Group

In the latest chapter of New Zealand’s richest man carving up the Carter Holt Harvey conglomerate, Carter Holt Harvey Group Limited (shareholding unknown, to be confirmed post initial public offering [IPO]) received approval for the acquisition of:

a freehold interest in approximately 41.6 hectares of land at Kinleith Road, Kinleith; and
a leasehold interest in approximately 17.8 hectares of land at Rama Road, Whangarei; and
a freehold interest in approximately 58.4 hectares of land at 28 Union East Street, Whangarei; and
a leasehold interest in approximately 1.2 hectares of land at New Renwick Road, Blenheim; and
a leasehold interest in approximately 0.6 hectares of land at 173 Sala Street, Rotorua; and
a leasehold interest in approximately 0.9 hectares of land at Corner Church Road & SH1, Te Rapa; and
a leasehold interest in approximately 0.7 hectares of land at Corner SH10 & Kahikataeroa Drive, Kerikeri; and
a leasehold interest in approximately 1.2 hectares of land at 141 Central Park Drive, Henderson; and
a leasehold interest in approximately 5.1 hectares of land at Union East Street East Whangarei; and
a leasehold interest in approximately 1.2 hectares of land at 44 Commerce Street, Whangarei; and
a leasehold interest in approximately 1.3 hectares of land at 40 Waihi Road, Tauranga.

Approval was also received for an overseas investment in sensitive land, being the Applicant’s acquisition of rights or interests in up to 100% of the shares of Carter Holt Harvey Nelson Sawmill Limited, which owns or controls a freehold interest in approximately 445.8 hectares of land at Eves Valley Road, Brightwater. Approval was also received for an overseas investment in significant business assets, being the acquisition of the Woodproducts New Zealand and Carters assets and businesses currently owned by Carter Holt Harvey Limited and related companies.

The vendor was Rank Group Investments Limited, Graeme Richard Hart, New Zealand (100%) and Carter Holt Harvey Limited, Graeme Richard Hart, New Zealand (100%). The amount received via the IPO is still to be determined. The OIO states: “This application relates to the proposed initial public offering (“IPO”) for the building supplies group (“BSG Business”) currently owned by Carter Holt Harvey Limited (“CHH”) and related companies. The IPO will result in the BSG Business being listed on both the New Zealand and Australian Stock Exchanges (NZX/ASX) and the listed entity likely becoming an overseas person (because overseas persons are expected to acquire 25% or more of the company through the IPO). Many of the benefits likely to result from the proposed investment flow from the listing of the BSG Business on the NZX. These benefits include the creation of additional roles at CHH Group, the opportunity for New Zealand retail and institutional investors to obtain an ownership stake in a large wood products business and the advancement of the ‘Building Capital Markets’ work stream of the New Zealand government’s ‘Business Growth Agenda'”.

This appears to be the last significant asset in the Carter Holt group of companies which Hart bought in 2006 and has been gradually breaking up and selling, so he can pay for his global packaging empire. The sale of this business, following on from the previous sales of its packaging and forestry interests, and Kinleith and Tasman pulp and paper mills, means there isn’t much left of Carter Holt Harvey to flog off. See our October 2006 commentary for details of Hart’s sale of over 240,000 hectares of Carter Holt forests to Hancock Natural Resource Group Inc. of the USA, and the fight by Maori owners of some of this land to stop the sale. See our November 2014 commentary for details of the pulp and paper mill sales to the Japanese.

But Will This Public Offering Go Ahead?

As reported by Stuff.co.nz (9/6/15: “Carter Holt refuses to comment on speculation that the real reason its sharemarket float plans have been put on hold is to consider an offer from the owner of Bunnings* Warehouse. In a statement issued on Tuesday morning, the company instead said plans to re-list on the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges were on ice until it could accurately finalise its earnings forecast.

* Bunnings came a close third in the 2015 Roger Award for the Worst Transnational Corporation Operating In Aotearoa/New Zealand. Carter Holt Harvey won the 2001 Roger Award. The 2001 Judges’ Report is available here. Ed.

“However, the Australian newspaper said the listing had been delayed because Wesfarmers was considering buying Carter Holt Harvey Building Supplies to benefit its Bunnings chain, which has about 50 stores throughout New Zealand. Carters has more than 50 building supplies stores in New Zealand. Bunnings reported revenues of more than $813 million in New Zealand last year, according to Companies Office files, making operating profits of more than $20m. However, the group had high finance costs of more than $15m a year reducing its bottom line profits, with related party loans worth $328m. A spokesman for Carter Holt said it would not comment on speculation.

“The building and construction materials company was originally expected to complete its initial public offering (IPO) next month. However, it said changes in market conditions in recent weeks meant the earnings outlook for the Australian timber business was now uncertain. The new board had decided the forecasts in the IPO document would not have the ‘necessary level of confidence required’ in the accuracy and probability of hitting the mark.

“Carter Holt Harvey Chief Executive Prafull Kesha said the decision had the full support of the current owner, rich lister Graeme Hart’s Rank Group. “While we were excited about the prospect of an IPO, it is the right decision in the circumstances to exercise caution and pause,” Kesha said. No timeframe was given for resuming the process, but the Australian Financial Review reported that the float might not take place until as late as the December quarter.

“Carter Holt is estimated to be worth about $1 billion. Rank Group said it expected to retain a ‘significant stake’ in the business following the float. Sources suggested it would keep 20 to 30%, depending on what price it got for the rest of its holding. Credit Suisse, First NZ Capital, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Craigs and Forsyth Barr have been appointed joint managers of the offer. Carter Holt comprises timber products businesses Woodproducts Australia and Woodproducts New Zealand, and Carters Building Supplies, which together employ 5,000 people.

“Hart has been selling off parts of the Carter Holt empire since Rank Group bought it for $3.6b in 2006, when it also included forests and farms. A year ago he shaved another big slice off the firm, offloading its pulp, paper and packaging business to two Japanese firms for about $US770 million ($NZ1.05b). Hart, who lives in Auckland and has seldom made himself available to the media, was ranked number 195 on Forbes magazine’s annual rich list, with an estimated fortune of $US7b”.

Three months later, the company said that while its building supplies distribution business, Carters, was performing strongly, the ‘ongoing uncertainty in global equity markets’ meant it wanted to review the merits of listing on the stock market listing now. The delay may just be a blessing for the unsuspecting Ma and Pa investor. Investors would be aware of the history of baker Goodman Fielder, which lost more than two-thirds of its value after it was spun-off by Hart in 2005.

Japan Post Buys Toll

Japan Post Co Limited, Government of Japan (100%), has received approval for the acquisition of rights or interests in 100% of the shares of Toll Holdings Limited, which owns or controls a leasehold interest in approximately 8.9 hectares of land at 223 Kioreroa Road, Whangarei; and approval for an overseas investment in significant business assets, being the Applicant’s acquisition of rights or interests in 100% of the shares of Toll Holdings Limited. The vendor was Toll Holdings Limited, Australian Public (70.7%), United States Public (14.9%), various overseas persons (9.9%) and United Kingdom Public (4.6%); consideration was $118,490,000.

The OIO states: “The investment is part of an international transaction where the Applicant has made an offer to take over Toll Holdings Limited (‘Toll’), which provides integrated supply chain logistics and international delivery services across a range of industries. Toll has a New Zealand subsidiary, Toll Group NZ Limited, which has an interest in sensitive land in Whangarei and assets valued at over $100 million. The Applicant intends to provide the Toll companies with access to its wide network in the Japanese market and its financial resources”.

This is part of a much larger deal, as reported in the Australian Financial Review (23/12/15) under the heading: “Turning Japanese: How The $6b Toll Holdings Takeover Created 80 Millionaires. It was Japan Post’s determination to build a global logistics empire from Asia that sealed the fate of Toll Holdings in arguably the deal of the year. Before senior executives from Japan Post flew to Melbourne on December 3, 2014 to broach the idea of a takeover with Toll Chief Executive Brian Kruger – who had no idea why the Japanese were coming to see him – they had assessed other opportunities.

“The 144-year old Japanese group had started investigating how to sell the float of its holdings company – which owned one of the country’s biggest banks and insurance groups, as well as a postal service – well before the initial public offering actually took place in November 2015. With many manufacturing businesses having moved out of Japan to other Asian countries like South Korea and China, the Japanese government saw the float as an opportunity to diversify away from its unprofitable postal service and control freight channels in the Pacific. But it didn’t have an international logistics business.

Japan Post spent most of 2014 looking at logistics companies around the world, analysing whether they could help the Japanese group build a global logistics footprint. But it was Toll that ticked the boxes. ‘Mainly because of our Singaporean and Chinese presence’, says Ray Horsburgh, the former Chief Executive of Smorgon Steel who has chaired Toll since 2007. ‘They saw the Toll model as a gateway into Asia, they realised themselves that they weren’t welcome in China and Singapore under the Japan label – there are still these territorial arguments going on about the islands with China, and the Singaporeans have long memories from the war. They said: ‘We want to keep the Toll brand, we want Toll management’.

“So Toll listened. Japan Post had hired Gresham Partners in November 2014 as an adviser (Gresham has an alliance with Japanese bank and Japan Post advisor Mizuho) after deciding it wanted to buy Toll. It asked Gresham for advice on how to structure and execute the $6.5 billion deal. When Gresham’s bankers David Feetham, Darren MacGregor and Matt Keenan, and Japan Post executive Hiroshi Shira Ishi, met with Kruger and Toll Head of Strategy Avi Gilboa at Toll’s headquarters on St Kilda Road in early December, the Japanese said they wanted to make an offer for the Australian logistics group, and they wanted it to be unanimously recommended by Toll’s board. Japan Post told Toll it needed full access to due diligence and the offer needed to be completed by June 30, before Japan Post’s float.

“Most importantly, the offer had to be kept completely confidential, because Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe didn’t want to be faced with a political firestorm over why the Government was spending public money to buy an Australian company before a deal had been signed. ‘They said if this ever leaked, Abe would pull the plug’, Horsburgh recalls. Japan Holdings’ President and Chief Executive, Taizo Nishimuro, was formerly Chairman of the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Toshiba Corp, and is close to Abe. Toll, which owns a parcel delivery business in Japan, Footwork Express, had previously had talks with Japan Post (via Goldman Sachs) about merging its Tokyo operations – which were struggling after the 2011 tsunami – with the Government-owned monopoly. ‘They came back and said we’ve thought about that, we ought to put it together – and we’ll put the lot together’, Horsburgh says.

Confidential

“To keep negotiations as confidential as possible, Toll’s board formed a subcommittee consisting of Horsburgh, Kruger, and independent non-executive directors Nicola Wakefield-Evans and Frank Ford (who was Chairman of the Audit Committee). Every director signed a confidentiality agreement. The rest of the board was told that the company had received a bid, but they weren’t involved in the negotiations. Japan Post didn’t want Toll to appoint a merchant bank as an advisor – big banks have big teams which some argue makes deals more susceptible to leaking. So Toll hired John Wylie, who was then Chief Executive of Lazard Australia, on the condition that he act alone, and not on behalf of Lazard. It also hired Rodd Levy, a partner at Herbert Smith Freehills, as a legal advisor (Japan Post had engaged a legal team led by Darryl McDonough at Clayton Utz).

“As negotiations kicked off, Toll named the pending deal ‘Project Young’ and the Japanese called it ‘Crystal’. Toll was referred to as ‘Topaz’ while Japan Post was ‘Jade’. In the second week of January, Horsburgh, Kruger and Wylie flew to Tokyo to meet with senior Japan Post management, including Nishimuro. Meetings were held in secret at the Imperial Hotel, a luxury hotel built in the 1880s, and Mizuho’s offices. Pseudonyms were used to arrange some of the meetings, and none were held at Japan Post. Horsburgh and Kruger also attended a series of dinners. A translator was always present but some of the meetings were ‘a little awkward’, recalls one person who was present. ‘But there was a real sense of commitment’.

Sensitive Topic

“Toll gave Japan Post permission to do due diligence, giving them a deadline of February 18. The Japanese had five weeks to do work that would normally take three months. The Australian group also signed agreements that prevented the company testing the market for better offers, even though a sale price had not been agreed. How much Japan Post would pay for Toll was the most sensitive topic of all. ‘There were heaps of euphemisms and assurances’, says one person involved in the deal negotiations. Phrases like: ‘This is an important transaction for both of us and the price will take that into account’. Toll trusted that Japan Post would be true to its word.

“Horsburgh made three separate trips to Tokyo, and also held meetings with the Japanese in Singapore and Melbourne. When it came time to negotiate the price, Toll argued that its current share price (which was then trading at around $6) was undervalued, partially due to the inflated Australian dollar, which was still above US80¢ in January. Toll had been also planning on making a big investment in its Singapore business, which it believed would have added value to the company. ‘Wylie was very good in preparing the base case and where we thought we ought to be starting’, Horsburgh says. ‘Then we said: ‘If you agreed that’s where we ought to start, there has to be a control premium, so you add that to our starting point. Then you want management and you are buying our intellectual property and brand, that’s worth more than the normal premium’.

“Toll negotiated a 49% premium to its closing price the day before the deal was announced, getting $9.04 per share in cash from Japan Post. The deal was also a 53% premium to the three-month volume weighted average price of Toll’s shares. Toll also spent a lot of time negotiating incentives for senior management, who would have lost out on unvested options once the deal was signed. The management incentives were tougher to negotiate than the deal price, because the Japanese public servants weren’t used to dealing with long-term incentive plans.

Millionaires

“But Japan Post recognised the value of keeping existing management happy, given it was moving into new markets, and agreed to pay out options for employees who stayed on for two years. ‘It became a bit of a golden handshake’, Horsburgh says. ‘We actually made 80 staff members millionaires which I’m quite proud of. Middle managers, guys that are good hard working battlers that were part of our share option plans were able to vest’. Japan Post had no trouble with the Foreign Investment Review Board (which gave its approval in mid March), because the deal timed nicely with the Government’s new free trade agreement with Japan. The Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement came into effect in January 2015. The deal announcement was carefully organised, because more people at Japan Post and Toll had to be told about it to get the necessary approvals.

“On February 17, Japan Post executives, including Japan Post CEO Toru Takahashi, got on an overnight plane from Tokyo, arriving in Sydney the next morning. There was not enough time to get to Melbourne before markets opened, so they signed the deal – news of which was broken by the Australian Financial Review’s Street Talk team on Tuesday night – and announced on Wednesday morning in Sydney. Within two hours of the announcement, Abe and former Prime Mminister Tony Abbott were on the phone to one another, congratulating each other over the deal’s success, according to people involved in the negotiations. Toll investors approved the takeover on May 13 and Japan Post Holdings’ November 4 $US12 billion initial public offering on the Tokyo Stock Exchange – the largest float in the world this year – was an unquestionable success.

IPO

“The holding company’s shares, which were oversubscribed and priced at the top of its forecast range, jumped 26% above their offer price on the first day of trading in early November, while shares of Japan Post Bank and Japan Post Insurance (which were listed separately) also rose. The IPO was just the first in a series of share releases by the Japanese government, which has only sold 11% of its holdings in the three new companies. It plans to progressively release further shares.

“The strong performance of Japan Post Holdings, which owns the postal company, gives Kruger – who has stayed on to run Toll’s business – a ‘great balance sheet’, Horsburgh says. The Japanese have made it clear that they want Kruger to grow Toll’s business, and its Australian advisory board, headed by Horsburgh, is already turning over potential acquisitions. Wakefield-Evans also sits on the new advisory board along with Horsburgh and Kruger and three Japan Post executives. The board retains responsibility for auditing Toll’s books, as well as health and safety and industrial relations agreements. It has monthly meetings which Takahashi also attends frequently. Horsburgh says he surprised at how hands off the Japanese have been with Toll. ‘I’ve done a lot of acquisitions myself and I’ve probably been brutal. You move in and clean out’.

More Advanced

“But ‘there’s been none of that’ with Toll, Horsburgh says. ‘Takahashi rings me and says: Is everything all right? Is Mr Kruger happy?’ Japan Post has, however, sent two executives to Australia to work at Toll and learn the business. One of the Japanese executives is responsible for networking with Japanese companies in Australia that don’t currently do business with Toll and encouraging them to use the logistics company’s services. ‘He’s started to sign a few clients up’, Horsburgh says.

“Toll has also sent some of its information technology staff to Japan to study Japan Post’s systems. ‘They’re a bit more advanced than us on parcel delivery and postage systems … we’re looking at how we can incorporate that’, Horsburgh says. ‘The future in this industry is parcel delivery’. And Horsburgh and Wakefield-Evans have started learning Japanese, taking lessons on the culture’s courtesies. Horsburgh reflects that Toll’s expansion into Asia has paid off. ‘Our board was convinced that long-term freight out of Asia was going to be important and we wanted to get a foothold there. There is no doubt in the early discussions we had with the Japanese that the attraction to them was that we had a presence in Asia, and had been accepted in Asia’.

“Australian companies should expect more approaches from the Japanese, Horsburgh says. ‘They will continue to look at globalising because they have been very insular over the years’, pointing out that while car companies like Toyota and Nissan have moved their manufacturing out of Japan, they have remained very much Japanese companies. ‘They weren’t actually global. And they are starting to think global’. Meanwhile, Abe is ‘sort of their Malcolm Turnbull’, Horsburgh explains. ‘He’s an innovator, he wants to grow business – and he wants them to think outside of the square'”.

Countdown Signs New Leases

General Distributors Limited, various overseas persons (54.5%), Australian Public (27.8%), United States Public (8.6%), United Kingdom Public (6.2%), Hong Kong Public (2.5%) and New Zealand Public (0.4%) received approval for the acquisition of:

a leasehold interest in approximately 1.5 hectares of land at Countdown Three Kings, 532 Mount Albert Road, Three Kings, Auckland; and
a leasehold interest in approximately 1.2 hectares of land at Countdown Timaru, Corner Victoria Street and Browne Street, Timaru; and
a leasehold interest in approximately 1.2 hectares of land at Countdown Browns Bay, Corner Anzac Road and Clyde Road, Browns Bay, Auckland.

The vendor was Antipodean Supermarkets Limited and Antipodean Properties Limited, The William Pears Group of Companies Limited, United Kingdom (75%) and Jonathan Berman, United Kingdom (25%). The asset value was $169,425,977. The OIO states: “The Applicant leases three supermarkets on the land at Three Kings, Browns Bay and Timaru, and as part of a wider transaction the existing leases are being surrendered and replaced with new leases”.

Malaysians Buy More Land For Forestry

Ernslaw One Limited, Tiong Family, Malaysia (100%) received approval for the acquisition of a freehold interest in approximately 464 hectares of land at Spray Road/Waihopai Valley Rd, Waihopai, Marlborough. The vendor was Waihopai Downs Limited (Aiden Roderick and Alison Mackenzie), New Zealand (100%); consideration was $785,000 or just $1,692 per hectare. The OIO states: “The Applicant intends to convert the land to forestry. The land is particularly suited to forestry and adjoins forestry holdings owned by an associated company Timbergrow Limited (which will allow the sharing of management and labour resources)”. See CAFCA’s Website for numerous examples of the Tiongs’ previous purchases here.

More CDOs, The Seeds Of A New GFC

Translation: More Collateralised Debt Obligations, The Seeds Of A New Global Financial Crisis. Ed.

Liberty NZ Warehouse Trust No. 1, Sherman Ching Ma, United States of America (100%), received approval for the acquisition (by and through its trustee and manager), of property in New Zealand used in carrying on business in New Zealand for consideration exceeding $100m, that property being loans and related securities originated by Secure Funding Limited. The vendor was Secure Funding Limited also Sherman Ching Ma, United States of America (100%); asset value was stated at greater than $100,000,000.

The OIO states: “The Investment is a securitisation transaction under which residential mortgage loans originated by the Vendor will be acquired by the Applicant trust, which will then be funded by warehouse facility or on the capital markets. This will fund the Vendor’s future lending”. This sounds like more “weapons of mass financial destruction”; the creation of the collateralised debt obligations which brought the world financial system to its knees in 2008 and was bailed out by taxpayers worldwide. Who’s going to eventually bail out this lot?

Chinese Buy Good Health Products

Shanghai Weiyi Investment & Management Limited Company, Nanjing Sinolife United Company Limited, Hong Kong (60%) and Shanghai Fosun Weishi Tranche One Private Equity Partnership Limited, China, People’s Republic of (40%), received approval for the acquisition of rights or interests in up to 100% of the shares of Good Health Products Limited which owns or controls a leasehold interest in approximately 1.7 hectares of land at 8 Parkhead Place, Albany Auckland.

The vendors were existing Shareholders of Good Health Products Limited, New Zealand (100%); consideration $23,274,254. The OIO states: “The Applicant intends to acquire 100% of the shares of Good Health Products Limited in order to expand its business internationally. The Applicant intends to continue to run the business in New Zealand and to grow sales of Good Health Products Limited’s natural health products into the Chinese market”.

Canadians Restructure Ownership Of Healthcare Real Estate

NorthWest Healthcare Properties Real Estate Investment Trust, Canadian Public (81.4%), Paul Louis Dalla Lana, Canada (16.6%) and various overseas persons (2%), received approval for the acquisition of rights or interests in 100% of the units of NorthWest International Healthcare Properties Real Estate Investment Trust, the value of the New Zealand assets of NorthWest International Healthcare Properties Real Estate Investment Trust and its 25% or more subsidiaries being greater than $100m.

The vendors were existing unitholders of NorthWest International Healthcare Properties Real Estate Investment Trust, Paul Louis Dalla Lana, Canada (65%) and Canadian Public (35%); asset value was $140,000,000. The OIO states: “The Applicant is the largest non-Government owner of medical office buildings and healthcare focused real estate in Canada. The Applicant will combine with the NorthWest International Healthcare Properties Real Estate Investment Trust to form a single healthcare real estate investment trust”.

Hong Kong Investor Buys 2,583 Hectare Tanupara Station Near Raetihi

Tanupara Asia Limited, Hong Kong (SAR) (100%), received approval for the acquisition of a freehold interest in approximately 2,583 hectares of land at 756 Mangaeturoa South Road, Raetihi (Tanupara Station). The vendor was James Bull Holdings Limited, New Zealand (100%); consideration was $13,500,000. The OIO states: “The Applicant intends to develop Tanupara Station to increase its carrying capacity, productivity and profitability whilst modifying the operation to be more focused on sheep production. The Station will be managed by MyFarm Sheep & Beef”.

Other May Decisions

Horizon Flowers NZ Limited, Netherlands (100%), received approval for acquisition of a freehold interest in approximately 13.1 hectares of land at 1482 Lorneville-Dacre Road, Woodlands, Southland. The vendor was WS Laurence Limited, William Scott Laurence, New Zealand (99.9%) and Leah Rochelle Sinclair, New Zealand (0.1%); consideration was $650,000. The OIO states: “The Applicant is acquiring the land to establish a business growing, harvesting and exporting tulip bulbs”.

Vinpac International NZ Limited, Australian Public (98.4%), New Zealand Public (1.1%) and various overseas persons (0.5%), received approval for the acquisition of a freehold interest in 54.4 hectares of land at 72 Hawkesbury Road, Renwick, Marlborough. The vendor was Wairau Michael Robert and Robyn Elizabeth Tiller as partners in the Isabel Estate Partnership (In Receivership) and Isabel Estate Vineyard Limited (In Receivership), New Zealand (100%); consideration was $8,672,158. The OIO states: “The Applicant is acquiring the land as a base from which it can centralise currently outsourced viticultural activities and work more closely with local growers, while also producing grapes and wine”.

And finally for May, Bloomsbury Stud (NZ) Limited, United Kingdom (100%), received approval for the acquisition of a freehold interest in approximately 8.6 hectares of land at 44 Jeffery Road, Crown Tce, RD1, Queenstown. The vendor was Robina Mary Bodle, New Zealand (100%); consideration was withheld under s(9)(2)(a) and s(9)(2)(b)(ii) of the Official Information Act. The OIO states: “The Applicant intends to use the land for the purpose of growing winter forage for the Woburn deer farmed on its adjoining property”. See our December 2010 commentary for details of Bloomsbury’s purchase of that adjoining property.

Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa,
P.O. Box 2258
Christchurch.