The New Zealand government has rejected a bid by a Canadian pension fund to take a 40 per cent stake in the country’s main airport, Auckland International. Land Information Minister David Parker and Associate Finance Minister Clayton Cosgrove say they were not satisfied the investment would have benefited the country.
They rejected advice from the government’s Overseas Investment Office that the deal should be approved because it would have substantial advantages. The Canadian pension fund had planned to spend nearly US$1.5 billion for its stake in the airport, which handles around 70 per cent of New Zealand’s international air traffic. Last September, state-backed Dubai Aerospace Enterprise withdrew a bid for a stake of up to 60 per cent equal to NZ$3.80 (US$3.05) a share, saying the board had not done enough to promote the deal.