Billionaire Graeme Hart has put a 'for sale' sign up on 18 sawmill and wood manufacturing plants in Australia and New Zealand he acquired through the takeover of New Zealand's largest forestry company, Carter Holt Harvey.
The sale is being managed by First NZ Capital and Credit SuisseFirst Boston and the price could rival the $2.24 billion Telecom got for its Yellow Pages business, a Wellington newspaper reported today.
Since paying $3.3 billion for Carter Holt in 2006, Mr Hart has sold the company's forests and head office and has built a global packaging business focused on drinks packaging.
The wood products business now for sale employs thousands of people at 12 sites in New Zealand and six in Australia. The sites mill timber and make plywood, laminated veneer lumber and interior decorative materials.
The sale of the wood products business comes at a time when there have been predictions of a recovery in log prices and ahead of an announcement of a carbon trading scheme this week.
Analysts have always said that Mr Hart's ultimate success in making money out of Carter Holt will depend on the strategy for the company's four pulp mills.
The company disappointed investors for decades under previous ownership and the breakup of the diversified conglomerate is seen as a chance to build a business of world scale in a chosen segment like packaging.
Mr Hart is famous for not talking to the media except when he is selling a business in public share sales. He is New Zealand's richest man.
Under previous management Carter Holt's wood products business was involved in a scandal involving selling wood that was weaker than advertised.
