Iwi investment fund TPT joins NZ Super deal for medical testing company

Asia Pacific Health Group processed around a third of all COvid-19 tests undertaken in New Zealand. Photo / Michael Craig

Te Pūia Tāpapa (TPT), the Māori direct investment fund, has bought into Asia Pacific Health Group, the company that provides lab testing for around three-quarters of New Zealanders.

In late 2020 the New Zealand Super Fund and Canadian pension fund Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board announced they were jointly buying APHG for $550 million.

TPT, established in 2018 by 28 Iwi and other Māori Entities, is a preferred partner of the Super Fund, which introduced it to the deal.

TPT will take a stake in APHG of "approximately 4 per cent", the Super Fund said in a statement, with the fund and the Ontario Teachers' fund retaining 48 per cent.

A spokesman for NZ Super said at the time of the purchase it was envisaged that TPT would invest in the company, giving New Zealand investors majority ownership of the medical company.

TPT bought in at a similar price to the November transaction, the spokesman said, suggesting it would have paid about $22m for its shareholding.

Te Pūia Tāpapa chairman Paul Majurey. Photo / Natalie Slade

TPT has $115.5m to invest, and has said it is seeking "co-investment in large-scale Aotearoa-based businesses and assets".

"We're pleased to come on board as co-investors in APHG. Investing in support of a business that cares for the health of New Zealanders fits perfectly with our world view," said TPT chair Paul Majurey.

"We look forward to working with APHG management to help it provide quality diagnostic services to New Zealanders. There are enormous changes happening in the health sector, with a focus on improving Māori health outcomes. As co-investors, we believe we can add significant value to APHG by deepening its understanding and ability to deliver for Māori communities across Aotearoa."

APHG has more than 2000 staff in 25 laboratories and 150 collection centres and operates under several brands, including Labtests. It processed about a third of all of New Zealand's tests for Covid-19, the most of any single provider.

NZ Super Fund chief investment officer Stephen Gilmore said the fund and TPT "are both investors with long-term time horizons and similar investment philosophies, meaning our investment strategies are strongly aligned. Working alongside TPT allows us to support the incredibly important work it does building Maori wealth."

It is the second time the Super Fund, which manages around $54 billion, has invested alongside TPT.

In July 2020 the fund, TPT and Direct Capital announced they had jointly acquired 31 per cent of heavy vehicle rental and lease company TR Group for an undisclosed sum.