| Decision | Consent declined Section 12(a) Overseas Investment Act 2005 |
|---|---|
| Decision Date | 14 December 2017 |
| Investment | An overseas investment in sensitive land, being the Applicant's acquisition of a freehold interest in 18.9602 hectares of land at Sullivan Mine, Denniston Plateau, West Coast. |
| Consideration | $450,000 |
| Applicant | Bathurst Coal Limited Singapore Public (30.69%) New Zealand Public (22.11%) Republic Investment Management Pte Limited, Singapore (19.9%) Australian Public (19.0%) Asian Dragon Acquisitions Limited, Singapore (7.3%) Various overseas persons (1.0%) |
| Vendor | Solid Energy New Zealand Limited New Zealand Government, New Zealand (100%) |
| Background | Sullivan mine has not been operational for 20 years. Bathurst applied to acquire the land and associated coal mining licences to support Bathurst’s adjacent operations and the future viability of the Buller coal project. The Sullivan mine has been closed since 1995 and Bathurst had no firm plans to re-open it and said it would consider doing so when the price of metallurgical coal rose to a more favourable level. For consent to be granted, Minister’s needed to be satisfied that the acquisition of Sullivan mine would result in substantial and identifiable benefits to New Zealand. Given that the Sullivan mine is closed and the uncertainty around the mine re-opening, Ministers were not satisfied that the benefits to New Zealand of the investment were likely to be substantial. |
| More information | Sam Nelson Lane Neave P O Box 701 Queenstown |
| Decision documents | Ministers reasons for decline (PDF 634KB) Ministerial decision (PDF 3MB) |