Italy's Barilla family, founders of the world's largest pasta company, have paid $25 million to buy a South Island dairy farm from Federated Farmers dairy chairman Willy Leferink and his wife Jeanet.
New Zealand's Overseas Investment Office approved the purchase in a decision released yesterday, saying the buyers intend to make additional capital investment in the farm and develop significant indigenous biodiversity.
The price for the 413ha Rakaia property represents about $61,000/ha, a 33 per cent premium to the $46,000/ha median price for Canterbury dairy farms in the latest Real Estate Institute figures and 85 per cent above the $33,000 national median dairy price in October.
Barilla pasta, sold in distinctive blue cardboard boxes, was established in 1877 as a bread and pasta shop in Parma, Italy. It is now a global business with exports to more than 100 countries and almost 4 billion ($6.72 billion) of annual sales.
The company is headed by the fourth generation Barilla siblings, Guido, Luca, Paolo and Emanuela, who are named as the new owners of the New Zealand farm.