$24m kiwifruit deal big coup for Maori business

Seeka will buy Te Awanui's packing operations for $11 million and lease it back. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

Kiwifruit packaging company Te Awanui Huka Pak is hailing a $24.2 million deal with New Zealand's largest kiwifruit grower as a big step for Maori business.

The deal with Seeka Kiwifruit Industries was marked at a ceremony in Mt Maunganui yesterday.

Mt Maunganui-based Te Awanui, whose shareholders are Te Awanui Whenua Trusts and Coolstore Management Services, will acquire a 17 per cent shareholding in Seeka.

Te Awanui Huka Pak packs 5.5 million trays of kiwifruit a year and has an avocado business of around 100,000 trays. Under the deal Seeka will buy Te Awanui's packing operations for $11 million which will be leased back.

Te Awanui Hukapak chief executive Hemi Rolleston said the amalgamation meant Tauranga Maori were now the biggest shareholders of Seeka.

"In the context of Maori business this is significant. We are a collection of Maori trusts who have the foresight to invest in more than just primary production, but in the whole value chain," Rolleston said.

"It's quite a coup to be the biggest shareholder in a listed company. We made a strategic decision to invest in Seeka."

Te Awanui sells its own kiwifruit through Zespri to India, Malaysia, Indonesia and North America. Rolleston said it would use the amalgamation to increase market reach into Malaysia, where it sells 400,000 trays.