Firm seeks to invest in 16 NZ dairy farms
Source: Bloomberg News |
April 15, 2011, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SHANGHAI Pengxin Group, a Chinese property developer seeking to export dairy products to Asia, wants to invest NZ$200 million (US$157 million) in 16 New Zealand dairy farms.
The company has applied to the New Zealand government's Overseas Investment Office to acquire assets called the Crafar farms, according to an e-mailed statement from Milk New Zealand Holding Ltd, a Hong Kong-based unit of Shanghai Pengxin. The company will spend the money in the farms in the first two years, it said.
Shanghai Pengxin said in January it wanted to buy the farms on New Zealand's North Island after the government rejected an earlier bid by China's Natural Dairy (NZ) Holdings Ltd and UBNZ Funds Management Ltd, saying it failed to meet "good character" criteria. Appointed administrator KordaMentha accepted the offer from Shanghai Pengxin in January.
"The aim is to add value to the raw milk produced on the farms by developing new products for export to the booming Asian market," the company said in the statement. Products will include baby formula, ice cream and cheese, it said.
China's dairy demand will expand by 36 million metric tons and imports will more than double to US$950 million by 2020, Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd, the world's largest dairy exporter, said last week. The country's demand for New Zealand milk products last year surged more than fivefold from 2008 to about 353 million kilograms, Fonterra said last month.
New Zealand farmer groups have voiced objection to the sale of farmland in key industries to overseas buyers.
The government in September gave ministers greater power to quash sales of large farm blocks and other sensitive land to foreign buyers. The tightened regulations require buyers to show how acquisitions benefit the economy.
The company has applied to the New Zealand government's Overseas Investment Office to acquire assets called the Crafar farms, according to an e-mailed statement from Milk New Zealand Holding Ltd, a Hong Kong-based unit of Shanghai Pengxin. The company will spend the money in the farms in the first two years, it said.
Shanghai Pengxin said in January it wanted to buy the farms on New Zealand's North Island after the government rejected an earlier bid by China's Natural Dairy (NZ) Holdings Ltd and UBNZ Funds Management Ltd, saying it failed to meet "good character" criteria. Appointed administrator KordaMentha accepted the offer from Shanghai Pengxin in January.
"The aim is to add value to the raw milk produced on the farms by developing new products for export to the booming Asian market," the company said in the statement. Products will include baby formula, ice cream and cheese, it said.
China's dairy demand will expand by 36 million metric tons and imports will more than double to US$950 million by 2020, Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd, the world's largest dairy exporter, said last week. The country's demand for New Zealand milk products last year surged more than fivefold from 2008 to about 353 million kilograms, Fonterra said last month.
New Zealand farmer groups have voiced objection to the sale of farmland in key industries to overseas buyers.
The government in September gave ministers greater power to quash sales of large farm blocks and other sensitive land to foreign buyers. The tightened regulations require buyers to show how acquisitions benefit the economy.
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