January to December 2007

Overseas Investment Office
Decisions

Commentary and Index prepared by CAFCA

(Note: the OIO decisions quoted here can be viewed here)

Contents

January 2007 decisions

One application refused
Pepsi buys Bluebird Foods for $245 million from Burns Philp
Independent Liquor purchased by PEP/CCMP led consortium for $1.25b
Juken Nissho buys Gisborne land to expand mill
Australian company buys Southland operation including Invercargill quarry
Negociants of Australia buy Marlborough land for winegrowing
Summary statistics

February 2007 decisions

One application refused
Blue Star Print Group sold to CHAMP Private Equity for $173 million
Wesfarmers of Australia buys insurance broker Crombie Lockwood
Eastern Corporation of Australia buys Nightcaps coal mine, Southland
Australian fund buys 43% of Ezibuy
Multiplex buys half of Pegasus Town, new town developers in Canterbury
New Zealand Crane Group buys Tauranga land for Todd and Pollock subsidiary
Australia Post Superannuation Scheme buys lease over Murupara forestry land
Summary statistics

March 2007 decisions

One application refused – to buy Upper Mataura Angler’s Lodge
Allco takes remaining 50% of Strategic Finance and restructures ownership …
… and had approval to take over Jetconnect for $148m if consortium got Qantas
CCMP private equity fund acquires Repco
Contact Energy buys Origin Energy Industries from its dominant shareholder
Fletcher Concrete acquires Waiheke Readymix including land on Waiheke Island
Feltex properties sold to Godfrey Hirst chief, Rudyard (“Kim”) McKendrick
Trans Tasman acquires Waterside Business Centre, Auckland for $8m
Macquarie Goodman buys three leases in Westneys Road, Manukau
U.K. firm buys half share in supermarkets and shopping centres from Macquarie
AMP fund acquires 9 ha. by its Northwood Supa Centre, Belfast, Christchurch
CTC Aviation Training to buy more Hamilton land for training facilities
Tiong’s Neil Properties acquires Cambridge land for residential subdivision
Blakely Pacific acquires 2000 ha. Saddle Peak Station, Canterbury, for forestry
Bourgeois family expands vineyard on 12 ha. in Marlborough
Westervelts of US buy Poronui Station and “Ranch” with conditions attached
U.K. company acquires Tauranga kiwifruit company including 21 ha.
Summary statistics

April 2007 decisions

Canadian-led consortium purchases Yellow Pages
Ironbridge acquires EnviroWaste Services from Fulton Hogan for $379 million
Failed takeover of APN News and Media approved
Saurashtra of India takes 25% of Pike River Coal
Cloudy Bay Vineyards of France and U.K. buys three blocks in Marlborough
Daesung of Korea buys Hawkes Bay orchard to supply its chain of shops
Erdmans buy further station near Lake Coleridge: Dry Acheron
Goodman Fielder sells pig breeder PIC New Zealand Ltd with 540 ha leasehold
Kingma of the Netherlands buys more Southland farm land
Summary statistics

May 2007 decisions

Veda Advantage acquired by PEP and Merrill Lynch for $1 billion
ING buys Remuera Gardens Retirement Village and Epsom Village…
… AMP's Summerset buys Warkworth and Katikati land for retirement villages
SAITeysMcMahon of Australia buys SkyCity Metro centre for $55.1 million
Westpac leasing Britomart buildings, Auckland, for new central office
Cargill buys 49% interest in publicly owned Spring Creek coal mine
Fonterra/Dutch joint venture buys Fonterra’s lactose plant at Kapuni
Hikurangi Forest Farms acquires land from Gisborne District Council
CDL Land buys Hastings land for residential subdivision
Land for forestry
Land for wine
Other rural land sales
Summary statistics

June 2007 decisions

Singapore Government and Babcock & Brown buy Alinta for $8.5 billion…
... and Babcock & Brown then buys Glenbrook for $232 million
CVC private equity buys half of PBL for $163m for New Zealand assets
Ironbridge private equity takes control of MediaWorks
Queenstown, Auckland resort/hotel properties to U.K. fund for $319m and resale
AMP buys Palms Shopping Centre, Christchurch for $208.5 million
HIH of Germany buys two leasehold Auckland buildings for $156 million
Strategic Investment Group buys leasehold property at Princes Wharf, Auckland
US subsidiary of Reading cinemas buys 26 ha. in Manukau
Ariadne Australia buys Orams Marine Village in Auckland
Macquarie Goodman buys Manukau Council land for Savill Link development
Cedenco of the US buys Mountain Carrots New Zealand
Kupe Joint Venture buys further land for gas production station
Rausing family (Ingleby Company) adds 595 hectare Katoa Station in Gisborne
CDL Land buys further land near Christchurch for subdivision
Australian buys Wanaka property
Summary statistics

July 2007 decisions

CVC private equity takes holding in PBL to 75%
CIP Canada acquires Stratos Global of Canada which owns sensitive land
Icelandic storage company buys Versacold from its US owner
Barenbrug of the Netherlands takes remaining shares in Barenbrug Southern
Fletcher Concrete buys land at Pokeno, S. Auckland; most details suppressed
AMP buys two blocks of Hawkes Bay land for lifestyle property subdivision
Macquarie Goodman buys Manukau lease of land for commercial development
Other rural land sales
Summary statistics

August 2007 decisions

Purchase of Taipo Forest land near Masterton declined approval
Brunswick of US buys remaining 51% of Rayglass; government embarrassed
Barbarians getting close: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts buys First Data Corporation
Oji buys remaining 13.3% of Pan Pac Forest Products from Nippon Paper
Valad buys 23 properties from Carter Holt Harvey for $173m for lease back
AMP buys office buildings in Wellington and Auckland
Barclays Bank takeover offer for ABN AMRO initially suppressed
Prysmian of the US buys International Wire and Cable Company's business
Nobilo buys 24 ha. vineyard near Blenheim for $4.5m
New Caledonian purchasers for 610 ha. Kia Ora Station, Gisborne
Summary statistics

September 2007 decisions

Brookfield Asset Management of Canada buys Multiplex for A$4.2 billion
Dominion Property Funds sets up $250 million Australian fund to buy property
Wesfarmers buys Coles – gets Kmart in Aotearoa
Transpacific gets rest of Canterbury Waste Services and Dunedin landfill
AMP/Perpetual Trust buy Lion Nathan's Khyber Pass site for redevelopment
Abacus Property of Australia may buy Unitel hostels including Queenstown
Contact Energy buys Wairakei land for Te Mihi power station from Landcorp
Toll Australia fails to buy out other shareholders in Toll New Zealand
CDL Land buys four blocks of land in Mairehau, Christchurch for subdivision
Retrospective approval for Mobil to lease foreshore land from Tauranga Council
Fosters selling wine interests – Archer Capital of Australia gets approval
Australian company buys 1,462 hectare Orere Point farm for $14.8m
US buyer for lifestyle property at Hahei, Coromandel
British couple buy Banks Peninsula lifstyle property for energy efficient house
U.K. agricultural contractor acquires Northland farm
Summary statistics

October 2007 decisions

Bank consortium buys ABN AMRO in €71 billion international buyout
Merck/Sanofi-Aventis buy Ancare group
Private equity takeover for part owner of The Radio Network
Fletcher Building's Laminex Group may buy 50% of Dongwha Patinna NZ
Rubicon's Trees and Technology buys rest of Horizon2 and sells it to ArborGen
Impress buys Amcor's Rocma FCA
Orchard fund (50% Australian) buys Eden Business Park for $115 million
Australian company buys Float Bar at Auckland's Princes Wharf
Global Forest Partners LP acquires 78,000 ha. Nelson/Marlborough forest estate
Changes in shareholding approved in Sirius, owner of Blue Star Print
Hong Kong investor acquires 75% of Highview Stud, Waikato
Other rural land sales
Summary statistics

November 2007 decisions

Yet another (overseas) owner for DCA (including Guardian Healthcare) 1
Pacific Equity Partners has approval to buy Hoyts. 2

Ex-NSW Premier and wife take shareholding in Blue Star Print's parent company
. 3

Lion Nathan buys land at East Tamaki for new headquarters
. 4

Neil Construction of Malaysia buys 125 hectares in Kerikeri for subdivision. 5
Goodman Group acquires two leases on Manukau property
. 5

Consortium buys 24,442 hectares of former Fletcher forests in Bay of Plenty
. 6

Block at Closeburn Station sold to Australian investor
8

Summary statistics
. 8

December 2007 decisions

City Pacific of Australia takes share in Bastion Point retirement village
Holcim buys North Otago land for buffer zone to proposed new cement plant
National Mutual buys properties from NZ REIT
Rausing family (Ingleby Company) add Matahiia Station, Ruatoria
Transfield takes over McBreen Jenkins Construction, including quarries
AMP buys 9.6 hectares at Warkworth for business/residential “incubator units
Goodman Group reorganises ownership structure of Highbrook Business Park
Land for wine
Other rural land sales
Summary statistics

 

 

Numbers of deleted or released decisions
before appeal

 

Jan 
2007

Feb 
2007

Mar 
2007

Apr 
2007

May 
2007

June 
2007

July 
2007

Aug 
2007

Sept 
2007

Oct 
2007

Nov 
2007

Dec 
2007

Total
2007

Deletions

1

2

6

2

4

3

3

3

0

3

5

2

34

Applications refused

1

1

1

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

4

Decisions released

6

8

19

11

16

16

10

10

18

20

10

11

155

 

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