| Decision | Consent granted Section 13(1)(a) Overseas Investment Act 2005 |
|---|---|
| Decision Maker | Overseas Investment Office |
| Decision Date | 22 February 2021 |
| Pathway(s) | Significant business assets only |
| Investment | An overseas investment in significant business assets, being the Applicant's acquisition of 100% of the shares in Datamars Holding S.à r.l., the value of the assets of Datamars Limited being greater than $100 million. |
| Asset Value | Withheld under s9(2)(b)(ii) of the Official Information Act 1982 |
| Applicant | Datamars Investors S.à r.l. Canada (31.8%) United States (21.7%) United Kingdom (17.3%) Luxembourg (6.5%) Germany (6.1%) France (4.5%) Switzerland (4.1%) Various (8%) |
| Vendor | Datamars Investments S.à r.l. Canada (65.1%) United States (13.7%) Luxembourg (9.1%) United Kingdom (8.7%) Switzerland (1.6%) Cayman Islands (1.0%) Spain (0.8%) |
| Background | The Applicant was formed to acquire 100% of the shares in Datamars Holding S.à r.l., a holding company for the Datamars Group, which is a leading global precision animal management solutions platform. Datamars supplies its customers with integrated livestock solutions across livestock identification and monitoring, farm resource management and animal health delivery systems, and high-performance identification (and reunification) solutions for the pet and textile markets. The transaction is a restructuring of Datamars Group’s existing holdings to bring on new investors. This is an international transaction upstream of the New Zealand subsidiary, Datamars Limited, with no direct changes in ownership or control of the New Zealand assets of Datamars Group. The Applicant has satisfied the OIO that the individuals who will control the investment have the relevant business experience and acumen and are of good character. The Applicant has also demonstrated financial commitment to the investment. This transaction required a mandatory national interest assessment under s20A of the Overseas Investment Act due to the involvement of a non-NZ government investor (a long-term institutional fund manager created by a special act of the Legislature of the Province of Québec) that will retain a more than 25% ownership interest in sensitive business assets. |
| More information | Luke Bowers Chapman Tripp PO Box 2206 AUCKLAND 1140 |