Applicant
Oji Holdings Corporation
Case number(s)
202100450
Decision date
Type
Decision
DecisionConsent granted
Section 12(a) Overseas Investment Act 2005
Decision MakerThe Minister for Land Information and the Associate Minister of Finance
Decision Date15 February 2022
Pathway(s)Investor test: s16(1)(a) and s18A.
Benefit to NZ test – substantial and identifiable benefit; residential land outcome: s16(1)(e), s16A(1)(a), (b) and (c).
Significant business assets: s13 and s18.
National interest test: s16(1)(g).
InvestmentUp to 100% of the shares in Oji Oceania Management Co., Limited (Company Number 0100-01-160158, Japan), which directly or indirectly holds interests in 5156.017 hectares of land, including:
  • 4704.8754 hectares of sensitive land; and 
  • 451.1416 hectares of non-sensitive land.
This includes freehold interests in approximately:
  • 460 hectares of land located in forestry blocks in the Bay of Plenty;
  • 2306 hectares of land located at and around Kinleith Mill;
  • 1125 hectares of land located at Ngaruawahia Forest; and
  • 350 hectares of land located at and around Tasman Mill.
Oji Oceania Management Co., Limited also has forestry rights in approximately 2,344 hectares of forest land in the Waikato region.
Consideration$404,000,000
ApplicantOji Holdings Corporation
Japan (76.68%); 
United States of America (9.33%); 
United Kingdom (7.35%); 
Various (5.33%); 
Luxembourg (1.31%).
VendorInnovation Network Corporation of Japan, Limited
Japan (100%)
Background

Oji Holdings Corporation (the Applicant) owns 60% of the shares in Oji Oceania Management Co., Limited (OOM) and wishes to acquire the remaining 40% of the shares in OOM from its joint venture partner Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, Limited.

The investment will result in the Applicant (who is the existing majority owner of OOM) obtaining full ownership and control of OOM, and the land that OOM owns. 

OOM owns Oji Fibre Solutions (NZ) Limited (Oji Fibre). Oji Fibre was formerly known as Carter Holt Harvey Pulp & Paper. Oji Fibre operates the Kinleith and Tasman mills, which are major employers in the North Island forestry sector. Oji Fibre is New Zealand’s largest domestic processor of wood fibre, a major domestic manufacturer of kraft pulps and packaging papers, and New Zealand’s only domestic recycler of paper. While Oji Fibre also owns significant interests in forestry land, this is for the purpose of supplying the mills with raw materials.

The Applicant wishes to retrofit the Kinleith pulp and paper mill with state-of-the-art wastewater treatment technology. This is expected to result in a significant improvement in the quality of the water being discharged into the Waikato River. 

This Investment will likely result in the creation of job opportunities and the introduction of an estimated $200 million of additional investment for development purposes into New Zealand. The investment will also advance Government policies relating to water quality and the Waikato River. The Applicant has undertaken previous investments that have provided benefits to New Zealand. 

Ministers were satisfied that the benefits likely to occur as a result of this investment were substantial and identifiable.

Ministers were satisfied that the overseas investment was not a transaction of national interest under section 20A of the Act or notified as a transaction of national interest under section 20B of the Act.

More informationJohn Strowger
Chapman Tripp 
PO Box 2206
Auckland 1140