KEY POINTS:
Foreigners are spending more money in New Zealand, with a $15.3 billion rise in the value of deals allowed in the first half of this year.
The Government authority which approves the transactions released figures yesterday showing a big jump in the dollar value of deals, from $5.4 billion in the first six months of last year to $20.7 billion for the first half of this year.
The Overseas Investment Office released details of deals approved in the six months to July 2007.
Although the dollar value of deals was up, the ultimate number of deals fell from 98 approvals between January and July last year to 82 approvals in the same time this year.
In dollar value terms, the three largest deals were collectively worth $1.1 billion. They were:
* The $660 million net investment by Canada's YPG Finance in Telecom's Yellow Pages Group. Although the money involved in this deal was higher than this, the office said this was the net investment in New Zealand.
* The $319 million deal for a British entity GDF-ILLP to buy Peninsula Rd and Melview Viaduct Harbour, two companies with control of a large Queenstown real estate project being developed by Nigel McKenna of Auckland.
* The $156 million purchase by Germany's HIH Global Invest GmbH to buy leasehold interests owned by Manson Buildings in two large Auckland property projects in the Quay Park area: the GE Building at 8 Tangihua St and the BNZ Building at 30 Mahuhu Crescent.
In land area terms the office listed the three largest deals in the first half of this year as:
* Fulton Hogan's sale to Barra Bidco - 34 per cent owned by Australians - of shares in EnviroWaste Services, which owns 3767ha of land around New Zealand.
* American entity Coleridge Downs' purchase of 1285ha of land at Dry Acheron Station in the Rakaia Valley, Canterbury.
* British entity The Ingleby Company's purchase of 595ha of land at Whakaangiangi Rd, Te Araroa. Yesterday, the office also released a string of approvals it made in July.
Fletcher Concrete and Infrastructure got approval to buy two blocks of land at Pokeno in South Auckland. This division of listed Fletcher Building got approval to buy a 211ha block of land at 42 Potter Rd from Roger Taylor and a 19.8ha block at 242 Bluff Rd from the Lancewood Family Trust, but it applied for both the price and rationale for proposed development to be kept a secret and the office agreed, suppressing these details.
Although Fletcher is listed on NZX, it must apply for the office's approval for large New Zealand land purchases because 34 per cent of the company is in Australian hands, 13 per cent is owned by Americans and a further 11 per cent is owned by various foreign entities, the office said.
Interests in Australia's Macquarie Goodman got approval to buy New Zealand's Workstore Developments which owns 3ha of leasehold land at 60 Westney Rd in Manukau.
Macquarie is developing a large office park with warehouse and distribution buildings on the land but the price of the deal was suppressed.
Iceland's Hf Eimskipafelag Islands got approval for a $72 million deal to buy all the shares in Canada's Versacold Holdings.
A 1.9ha block of land at Hornby in Christchurch was involved.
The office said the Icelandic entity was buying all the outstanding units of Versacold INcome Fund, a trust listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange created to buy public refrigerated warehousing, distribution and related businesses in the US, Canada, Australia Argentina, and New Zealand.
The purchase was part of the Icelandic entity's strategy to become an international operator in cold storage and logistics networks, the office commented.
