KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand Superfund and investment company Infratil - which invests on its behalf - have lifted their combined stake in Auckland International Airport above 10 per cent, the threshold which would enable them block any future buyers aiming to make full takeover bids.
There are now three
New Zealand groups with significant stakes in the airport which has been a target for two foreign investors in the past year.
NZ Superfund and Infratil, which is headed up by airport director Lloyd Morrison, now jointly hold 10.214 per cent of the airport, up from 8.616 per cent in the last disclosure on May 6.
Of the 10.2 per cent stake 3.3 per cent is held by Infratil and 6.9 per cent by NZ Superfund.
NZ Superfund also had another 2.2 per cent invested in the airport managed by other managers as at June 17.
Auckland City Council holds a 12.7 per cent stake and Manukau City Council holds 10 per cent.
Infratil and NZ Superfund were not specifically targeting a blocking stake, Infratil's Paul Ridley Smith said yesterday.
Nor should people see the NZ Superfund stake as some of sort of state-owned holding, he said.
Both Infratil and the NZ Superfund had a "hard-nosed returns based" investment mandate.
In fact Infratil and NZ Superfund had eventually agreed to sell in to the Canada Pension Plan bid for a 40 per cent stake earlier this year. That bid was successful despite the opposition of the two city councils but was knocked back by the Overseas Investment Commission after the Government made it clear it viewed the airport as a strategic asset.
Given the experience the Canadians had there wasn't likely to be any foreign bidders for Auckland Airport any time soon, Ridley Smith said.
His company's recent share buying had been driven purely by the view that the market was undervaluing the airport, Ridley Smith said. Canada Pension Plan had been prepared to offer as much as $3.65 a share for a 40 per cent stake.
Since the bid was killed by the OIO in April the shares have fallen 18 per cent - from $2.36 to yesterday's close of $1.93.
It was true that the world had changed in the past six months and with oil trading above US$130 airlines would be feeling the pinch, Ridley Smith said.
But visitor numbers were still strong and there was an increasing number of people in regions like North Asia whose incomes were rising to allow them to travel for the first time.
The Stakes
NZ organisations' stakes
* NZ Superfund: 9.1%
* Infratil 3.3%
* Auckland City 12.74%
* Manukau City 10.04%
- NZPA
