Scales Corp sells Timaru liquid storage business

Liqueo's storage facilities at the Port of Timaru which have been sold. Photo / Chris Tobin

Owners of storage facilities once linked to former Timaru business entrepreneur the late Allan Hubbard have been sold.

Scales Corporation Ltd, of Christchurch, has sold its Timaru bulk liquid storage business Liqueo to SBT Group, of Taranaki.

Scales Corporation's managing director Andy Borland said Liqueo had enjoyed strong growth with a long-term storage contract set to run for another 18 years in Timaru.

''While Liqueo has grown well in recent periods, the operation remains sub-scale in the context of the Scales Group.

Scales chairman Tim Goodacre said the Liqueo sale was the final phase of rebalancing businesses considered less aligned to their ''refreshed strategy.''

''We are adopting a greater focus on pure agri-businesses that play well to our strengths.

''Also, the returns from our storage activities are lower relative to our other business divisions.''

Liqueo's storage facilities at the Port of Timaru are adjacent to extensive Polarcold stores.

In May this year Scales Corporation sold Polarcold, subject to Overseas Investment Office approval, for $154.4million to Emergent Cold, an Australian company.

Polarcold operates in Timaru, Dunedin, Christchurch and Auckland and began in Timaru when it was then known as South Canterbury Co-op Coolstores.

Polarcold and Liqueo were both linked to Mr Hubbard and the failed South Canterbury Finance, which once had a 79.7% stake in Scales Corporation, a fruit and vegetable logistics group.

Scales Corp was not part of South Canterbury Finance's receivership.

In 2011, Direct Capital, of Auckland, with the NZ Superannuation Fund and Accident Compensation Corp as co-investors, gained a 79% stake in Scales for $44 million from South Canterbury Finance.

Scales Corp originated as a shipping company in the 19th century and acquired Polarcold in 1983. It suffered financial strife in the late 1980s after the sharemarket crash and in the late 1990s when, on both occasions, Mr Hubbard's involvement ensured its survival.