Overseas investment decision for case 201120014 - Tikitere Limited Partnership

An overseas investment in sensitive land, being the Applicant's acquisition of interests in up to 902.244 hectares of land located between Lake Rotoiti & SH 30, Rotorua.

An overseas investment in significant business assets, being the Applicant’s establishment of a business in New Zealand which is expected to require total expenditure exceeding $100m to establish and will be carried on for more than 90 days in any year.

Tikitere Limited Partnership (“TLP”) is ultimately owned by Ormat Technologies, Inc., a NYSE listed company involved in providing solutions for geothermal power, recovered energy generation and remote power.

TLP is seeking to investigate a geothermal resource located within the land located between Lake Rotoiti & SH 30, Rotorua with a view to building and operating a geothermal power plant. To this end, they have entered into a ‘build, operate and transfer’ agreement with Tikitere Geothermal Power Limited (“TGPL”, a joint venture vehicle for the various Maori trusts that own and administer the land). Under the agreement TLP may acquire an interest in parts of the land for the purposes of the project. TLP’s interest in the land and ownership of the power plant will revert to TGPL once TLP has had the benefit of operating the facilities for a period of time or the agreement is terminated.

The overseas investment transaction has satisfied the criteria in sections 16 and 18 of the Overseas Investment Act 2005. The 'substantial and identifiable benefit to New Zealand' criteria were satisfied by particular reference to the following factors:

Overseas Investment Act 2005
17(2)(a)(i) – Creation/Retention of jobs

Overseas Investment Regulations 2005
28(f) – Advance significant government policy or strategy
28(i) – Economic Interests
28(j) – Mitigating Factor