KEY POINTS:
If timing is everything, the Canadian bidders for a chunk of Auckland Airport got it half right.
Their December offer of $3.65 quickly took on an irresistible appeal even to diehard opponents as the sharemarket tumbled over summer. This was mainly good for the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board whose campaign to pick up 40 per cent of shares and a majority of votes gathered an unstoppable momentum.
While the $160 billion fund - through slightly gritted teeth - professed to be relaxed about paying over the odds, the bid then ran full-tilt into election year and Labour, suffering a high summer poll slump, found a means of cornering National leader John Key.
Hence Finance Minister Michael Cullen's successive Monday night specials - the crackdown on stapled securities and tougher restrictions to block foreign control of strategic assets - months after the bid was launched.
From the time Helen Clark said as an Aucklander with "no personal enthusiasm for seeing that hugely important piece of infrastructure go from New Zealand" the Canadians' goose was cooked.
The Canadians found themselves snookered, forced to reduce their control to less than 25 per cent and then picking up the fail mark from the ministers for not having the power to implement sufficient changes and bring sufficient benefits to the country.
While promising infrastructure expertise and the ability to link up with other airport investments, it was undeniable the Canadians' chief attribute was the $1.8 billion mountain of cash which now heads back to Toronto. For more than 28,000 small shareholders who wanted their share of the pot, the timing is lousy. Anyone who sold a parcel of 5000 shares yesterday would have got more than $5000 less than the cheque that would have been in the post next week had the Canadians succeeded.
Many in this shareholding group were probably looking forward to a winter trip away. They'll be grumpy, the grandkids in Aussie will be disappointed but the weight of numbers and the election year cycle worked against them.
THE CRITERIA
* How the Canadian bid fared against the requirements of the Overseas Investment Act.
* Does the relevant overseas person have business experience and acumen relevant to the investment? Pass
* Have they demonstrated financial commitment to the investment? Pass
* Will the overseas investment benefit New Zealand? Pass
* Will the benefit be substantial and identifiable? Pass
* Is the relevant person a New Zealand citizen, ordinarily resident in New Zealand or intending to reside in New Zealand indefinitely? Fail
* Has the overseas person previously undertaken investments that have been, or are, of benefit to New Zealand? Fail
* Will the granting of consent result in the person undertaking other significant investment in New Zealand? Fail
* Will the overseas investment result in the creation of new job opportunities or the retention of existing jobs in New Zealand? Unknown
* Will the refusal adversely affect New Zealand's image overseas or its trade or international relations, or result in New Zealand breaching any of its international obligations? Unknown
* Will the overseas investment assist New Zealand to maintain control of strategically important infrastructure on sensitive land? Unknown
