KEY POINTS:
A British financier which established an Auckland office last year has loaned $107 million to enable the country's largest residential project to begin.
BOS International, owned by the merged entities of Halifax and Bank of Scotland, loaned the money to Infinity Investments Group, which is developing the $1
billion Pegasus Town north of Christchurch.
Hugh Sykes, associate director of BOS International in Quay St in Auckland, said his group had more than $2.7 billion loaned to New Zealand businesses, split evenly between corporate and property loans.
His office had grown from one staff member last year to eight people and he said he hoped to provide more funding for Pegasus, where 5000 people are set tolive.
"Hopefully it will be an ongoing relationship," Sykes said of the financing deal with Infinity, which already has some funding. In April, Infinity pulled in $122 million in its first seven hours of residential pre-sales.
Sykes said the largest amount BOS had loaned in New Zealand was $350 million to IMF Westland to develop a shopping centre on 220ha of land at Tauriko in the Bay of Plenty, where IMF has plans for a large industrial and business park.
BOS also loaned $300 million to enable Australia's Catalyst Investment Managers to buy manufacturer Metropolitan Glass from three Auckland businessmen, Sykes said.
BOS's Auckland office loaned money to Rick Martin's Cornerstone Group to fund the freehold purchase of a large block of Albany land from Malaysia's Neil Group, Sykes said.
Smaller loans have been made to Geneva Finance, which in August secured a $30 million line of funding from BOS to complement its retail debenture programme. BOS has loaned about $75 million to specialist property group Strategic Finance, Sykes said.
BOS also funded the first part of the deal for private equity funds Goldman Sachs JBWere and Quadrant Private Equity to buy clothing manufacturer and retailer Kath-mandu.
Sykes, originally from Britain, said he worked for the HBOS in Britain and in Australia and had married a New Zealander. He shifted to Hamilton before the group asked him to establish the Auckland office.
The Infinity deal would enlarge the Australasian business for his group, which was assisted by having a British-based parent, Sykes said.
Bob Robertson, Infinity's chief executive, said the deal with BOS meant construction could start at Pegasus. A joint venture contract between Auckland's HEB Smith-bridge and Canterbury contractors March Construction has been signed to begin bulk earthworks.
The joint venture would work on the first five stages of the project. Titles to residential properties are due to be issued in November next year, followed by a second release in January 2008.