Foreign Investment

Foreign investment in Aotearoa/New Zealand

2020

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 2020 decisions

Development companies fined for failing to get OIO consent; Consent declined for Chinese development at Lake Pukaki; Kiwi Property gets a rubber stamp; Oceania Healthcare gets a rubber stamp for retirement villages; Fletcher Residential makes its first use of its rubber stamp; Neil Construction (Tiong, Malaysia) buys Whenuapai land; Quadrant Private Equity buyout of QMS Media/Mediawork; Drylandcarbon buys farmland for forestry in Kaikoura; Nippon Paper takes over Orora packaging in Aus and NZ; Land buffer for Waste Management's Dome Valley landfill; Land buffer for Oceana Gold's noisy mining waste dump at Waihi; A second retrospective consent for Zhang Zhou family; Austrian billionaire buys a second property for forestry, at Wairoa;

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February 2020 decisions

Two more Drylandcarbon forests; Hong Kong/Bermuda company buys Ormond Valley Forest, Gisborne; US Costco giant retail club hits NZ; Synlait to buy Dairyworks...; and buys land for water rights next to its Dunsandel plant, Canterbury; Retrospective consent for Albany residential development;

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March 2020 decisions

New Forests private equity buys forestry right at Wairakei; China Forestry Group buys RMS FGI and its Remutaka forestry rights; Japanese Sumitomo buys Maungataniwha Forest, Kaitaia; Austrian billionaire buys a third property for forestry; UK family wealth buys a NZ forest; Prospa NZ buys its loans off itself; Synlait Milk buys the Dairyworks business; Australian/Canadian takeover of Abano Healthcare (Lumino the Dentists); Freightways takeover of Big Chill; Rymans buys Canadian-owned land for Christchurch retirement village; Scottish private equity fund buys into Invesco's Chorus House, Auckland CBD; T&G Global leases more land for apples at Waiohiki, Hawkes Bay...; and another lease at Clive; Americans turn pine forest into second golf links at Mangawhai; Retrospective consent declined for Korean guru's meditation sites;

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April 2020 decisions

Universal Homes (China) gets rubber stamp; Emergent flips Polarcold Stores to US giant Lineage Logistics after one year; Elanco's purchase of Bayer's animal health business includes NZ products; AMP Australia increases holding in Wiri prison operation to 70%; Investore buys more commercial property; Augusta Capital's new share issue for commercial property "post-Covid" Oyster reorganises investment in Tauranga Crossing Shopping Centre; Heinz Wattie leases land for vegies in Hastings;

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May 2020 decisions

Centuria Capital gets Augusta Capital properties as Covid bargain; Jadestone Energy gets 69% of Maari oil field from OMV; Oji Fibre buys Waihora Forest, Taupo; Drylandcarbon to plant 650 ha of new forest in Taranaki; Constellation selling off its Nobilo wines to Gallo; Brierley sells interest in America's Cup facility to Ariadne;

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June 2020 decisions

Augusta/Centuria private equity to develop Queenstown Council land; Sun Life takes over InfraRed, including share of Transmission Gully PPP; JP Morgan private equity in industrial property partnership with Stride; Worldline takeover of Ingenico in EU includes NZ payment systems; Corison buys land for third forestry conversion; Fishing quota for West coast partnership; Kinetic/Skybus to make Go Bus e-buses; Mainland/Navis Capital buys another poultry farm; Singaporean buys Otago vineyard;

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July 2020 decisions

Minister Sage declines consent for forestry conversion by Ernslaw One (Malaysia); Oceanwood Investments swaps Tasman mill and forests between equity funds; Oji buys more shares in Southland Plantation Forests; NZ Pharmaceutical bile products move from Archer Capital to Advent private equity fund; Central North Island fibre network bought by Aus/Ca/Japanese investor funds; UDC Finance "securitises" your car loan...and is sold to Shinsei Bank, Japan; Fletcher Residential's second use of rubber stamp Beachlands, Auckland; Kiwi Property's first use of rubber stamp is somewhere in Auckland; Woolworths leases land for Countdown supermarket in Wiri; Cloudy Bay/LVMH Diageo buys another vineyard; NZ/UK partners to build apartments by Orakei Basin, Auckland;

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August 2020 decisions

Microsoft cloud for sensitive NZ data passes Minister's national interest test; Ministry of Health building bought by tax haven investors; Cloudy Bay/LVMH/Diageo buy another vineyard; Baring takes over as Covid-19 hits Travelex; LOGOS to build logistics centre for Toll in Onehunga, Auckland; UAE capital buys two holiday camps in Waihi Beach and one in Papamoa; Singaporean buys Zindia Timber exports to India; Third use of standing consent by Fletcher Residential; Woolworths uses its first consent in Alexandra, Otago;

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September 2020 decisions

Nelson Forests/OneFortyOne gets rubber stamp for forestry land "in national interest"; Oji Fibre also gets a rubber stamp to buy forests; EQT private equity takeover of Metlifecare; Bovine blood serum acquired in Danaher/GE bioprocessing deal; Waste Management/EnviroWaste buy stink buffer from Rangitikei Council; Fletcher Residential to build urban village in Kumeu; Oyster fund acquires Millennium Centre from Goodman; Retrospective consent for Chinese owners of Matakana vineyards;

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October 2020 decisions

Labour gives Oceana Gold a rubber stamp for Waihi; Craigmore's Kauri Forestry partnership buys another forest; Aquila Capital buys Te Rata Forest, Gisborne; Afterpay gets consent for securitisation programme; Sean Parker increases Weta Digital shares to one third ownership; Singapore billionaire increases share of Nippon Paint (Dulux/Selleys/Yates); Happy Valley (ASX) buys Ōtorohanga dairy factory project; CRV dairy geneticists get retrospective consent to lease Hamilton land;

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November 2020 decisions

NZ Super Fund, Ontario Teachers and Te Pūia Tāpapa buy back our pathology services; Drylandcarbon buys Wairoa land for native forest and carbon credits; New Forests gets three consents to buy forests in Wairarapa and Marlborough; Kauri Forestry buys land for conversion in Waipu; Oji Fibre buys Ngaruawahia forest; Corisol buys forestry land in Otago for more conversion; Ryman no longer considered an "overseas person"; Administrative penalty for overlooking OIO rules; Swager: NZ lifestyle;

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December 2020 decisions

Fletchers Residential development at Riverhead, Auckland; Huka Lodge now owned by US private equity fund; Lane-Spollen buys land suitable for forestry conversion; Immortality/Blackstone ups its share of Partners Life insurance; Australian investment group Charter Hall buys half share in BP outlets; AMP Capital invests in Serco management of Kohuora men's prison; PEP private equity fund buys Epsom land for medical practice extension;

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Numbers of approved, declined and price deleted Decisions

	Jan 2020	Feb 2020	Mar 2020	Apr 2020	May 2020	Jun 2020	Jul 2020	Aug 2020	Sep 2020	Oct 2020	Nov 2020	Dec 2020	Total 2020
Deletions	3	2	7	2	1	1	7	7	2*	3	4	2	41
Approvals	12	6	14	8	6	9	11	9	8	7	11	7	108
Declined	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3

* this is count of the number of consents that don't include price (or other info if withheld)

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