| Decision | Consent granted Section 12(b) Overseas Investment Act 2005 Section 13(1)(a) Overseas Investment Act 2005 |
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| Decision Maker | Overseas Investment Office |
| Decision Date | 15 August 2019 |
| Investment | An overseas investment in significant business assets and sensitive land, being the Applicant's acquisition of rights or interests in 100% of the shares in New Zealand Bus Finance Company Limited, 100% of the shares in Swift Transport No. 1 Limited, and 75.19% of the shares in New Zealand Bus Limited (together, NZ Bus), the consideration for which exceeds $100m. Following the transaction, NZ Bus will be a wholly owned subsidiary of the Applicant. NZ Bus holds leasehold interests in the following sensitive land, used as bus depots:
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| Consideration | Expected to be between $145 million and $165 million |
| Applicant | NZB Finco Limited Australia (39.80%) Cayman Islands (24.78%) United Kingdom (15.79%) Luxembourg (12.46%) United States of America (3.66%) New Zealand (3.52%) |
| Vendor | Swift Transport Limited New Zealand Public (76.08%) Various overseas persons (12.09%) United Kingdom (11.83%) |
| Background | The Applicant seeks to acquire NZ Bus. NZ Bus operates urban bus services in Auckland, Tauranga and Wellington and holds leasehold interests in a number of bus depots. NZB Finco is ultimately owned by Next Capital Pty Limited, an Australian private equity firm. Next Capital has previous experience investing in the bus transport sector in both Australia and New Zealand. It intends to grow and improve NZ Bus, relying on its existing experience and also introducing new strategic direction and bus management practices. The Applicant also intends to undertake developments at the Auckland and Wellington bus depots that will create job opportunities in New Zealand. |
| More information | Mark Forman Minter Ellison Rudd Watts PO Box 3798 AUCKLAND 1140 |