Aussie fund manager eyes NZ farms, Spark reaches crucial crossover point, Please lord, save us from the stadium

In NBR Print today: The struggling New Zealand dairy sector has caught the eye of a multibillion-dollar fund manager across the Tasman, reports Jason Walls. AMP Capital Australia’s chief investment officer Sean Henaghan has expressed interest in investing in rural New Zealand, “given some of the stress in the sector.” So too has the NZ Superannuation Fund.

The company formerly known as Telecom has had the worst luck in mobile – some of it of its own making. But things are on the up for the telco now known as Spark [NZX:SPK]. Chris Keall reports.

In a small country, it is inevitable executives at rival firms will become involved in personal relationships. How they handle the potential conflict is the key. Chris Hutching and Chelsea Armitage delve into the liaison between outgoing Fonterra [NZX:FSF] senior executive Maury Leyland and Synlait [NZX:SML] chief executive John Penno.

Questions of how much or little multinational firms pay in tax here might have been in the headlines this week but closer to home there are other equally difficult tax issues. Businesses have been under pressure from the IRD to class more of their spending on capital rather than revenue account, and therefore be forced to claim fewer deductible items. Rob Hosking reports.

Equity crowdfunding gathered steam quickly in New Zealand but the past few months have been muted, with a trend toward private wholesale deals. Calida Smylie reveals two have not put out an offer since being licensed, one has not yet run a successful campaign and another has shut down.

Hunters’ Corner runs his ruler over the Auckland sports stadium debate and his conclusion is simple: Stadiums are vast sinkholes for public money. We do not need another one.

Sanford [NZX:SAN] chief executive Volker Kuntzsch tells Jenny Ruth he doesn’t think the global salmon crisis, sparked by a toxic algal bloom killing an estimated 23 million salmon in Chile, is having even an indirect impact on the price of New Zealand salmon. But it could be having an effect on Sanford’s share price.

With a new workplace health and safety regime kicking in on April 4, private health insurer Nib New Zealand is re-entering the corporate market, CEO Rob Hennin tells Nick Grant.

The Huffington Post will set up a New Zealand outpost by the end of this year with ASB Bank [ASX:CBA] as a major sponsor, reveals Chelsea Armitage.

The company redeveloping 170 hectares of Auckland’s Tamaki area will be looking for investment and development partners in the next couple of months, reports Sally Lindsay.

In other property news, Chris Hutching says the Rotorua central business district is looking healthier than it has for a couple of years. But there are still 82 vacant shops, which equates to a 15.4% vacancy rate, down from 16.2 about a year ago, according to a survey by Telfer Young valuers.

Setting up for the future: In his Margin Call column, Nevil Gibson looks over five stocks that fit criteria for growth in the next decade.

All this and more in today’s National Business Review Print Edition. Out now.

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