NEWS
BOOSTER STEERS A NEW COURSE FOR KIWISAVER
INVESTORS WITH THE PURCHASE OF MAHANA ESTATES
Combilift has been nominated as a finalist in one of the
most prestigious and hotly contested international awards
in the materials handling industry. From a large pool of
applicants, just 15 products have been selected for the IFOY
Award (International Intralogistics and Forklift Truck of the
Year) which honours the best pr oducts and solutions of the
year. The Combi-PPT powered pallet truck with 8,000kg
capacity is one of three products shortlisted by the jury in the
Warehouse Truck category.
Hawke’s Bay Seafoods has been
charged by the Ministry for Primary
Industries following discrepancies
over catch numbers and under
reporting. Also charged were
subsidiary companies Ocean
Enterprises and Esplanade No 3
Ltd, along with brothers Antonino
and Giancarlo D’Esposito, and
Antonino’s son, Marcus. The
combined fine is in excess of $1
million.
Almost 100 Kiwi agritech
specialists, entrepreneurs,
agribusiness leaders and support
agencies were at EvokeAg food
& farm futures conference in
Melbourne last month. Making up
almost 10% of the attendees at
this globally focused conference
shows the significance for agritech
for New Zealand and its future, says
AgritechNZ executive director Peter
Wren-Hilton. “The exciting thing for
New Zealand is our alignment with
addressing many of the big global
challenges for feeding the world
while not destroying the planet.”
Booster has announced its purchase
of the former Mahana Estates winery
site and formation of the Booster
Wine Group.
Booster’s specialist investment arm
secured the Nelson-based site,
adding to their other investments
in the wine industry; Awatere River,
Waimea Estates, Bannock Brae and
Sileni Estates.
Over the last 18 months Booster’s
strategy of supplementing listed
shares with direct investment in
local companies has changed
the landscape for Kiwi investors.
Booster’s move now marks another
milestone in the KiwiSaver industry.
Through the purchase of the Mahana
site and the formation of the Booster
Wine Group, the KiwiSaver provider
has created a new investment
opportunity for the benefit of its
KiwiSaver members. The norm in
the KiwiSaver industry is to invest
in easily tradable listed shares and
bonds.
The acquisition significantly enhances
the premium wine production
capability of the Booster Wine Group.
It adds one of the best premium wine
making facilities in New Zealand to
the group and creates significant
scale and synergies that strengthens
the group’s ability to be internationally
competitive.
“Most New Zealand wineries, as
small independent businesses, have
always been challenged by scale.
The Booster Wine Group allows our
wineries to focus on what they do
best – produce world-class wine,
while still remaining Kiwi owned and
operated,” says Allan Yeo, managing
director of Booster.
“The wine industry is one of New
Zealand’s most successful exports.
We’re pleased to be keeping a piece
of it in local ownership and giving
everyday Kiwi investors the chance to
share in its success.”
The latest purchase brings the total
production of the Booster Wine Group
to the equivalent of 1 million cases
per year for this coming vintage. The
site features a unique gravity-fed
facility that will produce high-quality
wine, while providing the opportunity
to streamline the production of all the
premium and super premium wineries
in the group.
“In addition to the synergies we
can achieve with our other wine
investments, we are pleased to have
brought a beautiful piece of land
and a state-of-the-art wine making
facility back into Kiwi ownership. New
Zealanders collectively had more
than $50b in their KiwiSaver accounts
last year – however, only a fraction of
this is being invested back into New
Zealand businesses,” adds Yeo.
Booster has several other investments
in its pipeline which are expected to
be finalised and announced this year.
“Booster Tahi helps invest Kiwi
savings back into successful New
Zealand businesses to help fulfil their
growth potential and to keep them
Kiwi owned. While our initial focus
has been on horticulture investments
in wine, kiwifruit and avocados, we
see exciting opportunities in other
areas as Tahi grows,” says Yeo.
QUOTA WOES
COMBILIFT COMBI-PPT
NOMINATED FOR IFOY AWARD
NZ AGRITECH THE BIG
HIT AT MELBOURNE’S
EVOKEAG EVENT
20 MARCH 2019