Gough Group has the valuable Caterpillar dealership. Photo / file
Gough Group has the valuable Caterpillar dealership. Photo / file
An Asian business has Government consent to buy out the wealthy Gough family of Canterbury in a $211 million deal for Australasian business interests across many sectors.
Sime Darby Berhad, 82 per cent Malaysian owned, got Overseas Investment Office consent to buy Gough Holdings of New Zealand.
Gough Group's businessincludes the Caterpillar dealership and the sale of industrial equipment and motors, provision of logistics services, investments in healthcare, insurance and shopping centre assets.
New Housing New Zealand properties, Northcote. Photo / Michael Craig
"The investment involves the acquisition of Gough Group which, along with its subsidiaries, supplies and provides heavy machinery, provides transport and materials-handling, as well as related services, to the infrastructure, mining, forestry, transport, and power systems industries in New Zealand and Australia," the office said.
Hornby-headquartered Gough Group employs more than 950 people and says it is a New Zealand and Australia leader in infrastructure, mining, forestry, transport and power system industries.
In other decisions released yesterday, Al Sky UK Bidco won consent for a $192m deal to buy rights or interests in shares of Transaction Services Group owned by Bolton Equities and others.
"The target and its subsidiaries provide customised business management software solutions and integrated payments and services across a range of sectors. The target has three New Zealand subsidiaries, namely, DebitSuccess Limited, Paysmart NZ Limited, and Clubware Limited," the approval said.
EnviroWaste Services which is 70 per cent Hong Kong-owned, got consent to buy 275ha of sensitive land at 587 Ridge Rd and Beaver Rd at Pokeno from Holcim (New Zealand), 23 per cent Swiss-owned.
The land is a quarry and dump but the pits are now retired so EnviroWaste wants to operate a recycling and dump business there.
An entity owned by NZX listed Goodman Property Trust got consent to buy 6.9ha of land at 42-70 Favona Rd in Auckland for $29m. The vendor is New Zealand entity Favona Rd LP and Goodman says it will build an industrial estate there. Goodman needed consent because although 65 per cent is in New Zealand hands, 26 per cent in Australian and 5.6 per cent American.
East Tamaki's Highbrook, owned by Goodman Property Trust. Photo / supplied
Malaysian-controlled The Neil Group got a standing consent to buy residential land for development, exempting it from New Zealand law which would otherwise ban foreigners buying such property.
Chinese Government-owned Universal Homes got consent for a $4m deal to buy 0.3ha of sensitive land in Northcote's Tonar St and Cadness St where it wants to build houses.
The land was sold by HLC, part of state housing entity Housing New Zealand. This is part of th wider Northcote development project where old state houses are replaced by modern places. Three state houses were on the land Universal wants to buy but they have already been removed, the decision said.
