Warner Bros. won consent to buy Auckland land. Photo / supplied
Warner Bros. won consent to buy Auckland land. Photo / supplied
Lights, cameras, action - land is being bought for a new television series to be filmed in Auckland.
Giant American film and television studio Warner Bros. has won official state consent to buy a housing site here for a new TV series.
The Overseas Investment Office granted its application tobuy 0.8ha of freehold Auckland land, although the exact location is being kept secret in the meantime.
Whether that's for the next series of Three's The Block NZ is also unconfirmed.
"We don't comment on the show's location this early I'm afraid," said a spokesperson for Discovery today.
The state decision said Warner's application met the criteria for approval for a foreign entity to buy land - a move barred by the Labour coalition last decade after a rush of Chinese buyers to New Zealand.
"The applicant is a television production company that acquires residential land for the purpose of producing a television show," said Warner Bros. International Television Production New Zealand's application. The company is 99.97 owned by US interests.
The Block NZ, screened on Three. Photo / supplied
"The consent permits the applicant to acquire a freehold interest in land which is residential but not otherwise sensitive land, for the purpose of television production. The land will be divested once the television production and related activities have concluded," said the just-released consent.
Andrew Peterson of Bell Gully acted for Warner but the value of the land deal was withheld under the Overseas Investment Act.
The vendor was New Zealand company Pacific Terraces.
Companies Office records show William Hewitt of Orewa owns that business.
Property records also show Pacific Terraces owns Orewa land which is in a subdivision where new homes are being built.
One report recently said a new series of The Block NZ, entitled Redemption, promises "the biggest battle yet, when audience favourites from past seasons return for a second chance". No details are out yet of who'll be in it.
This year's series was hit by Delta and its auction finale was postponed and forced to go online, leading to quite a different vibe.
Meg Stallard with Dan Leen on the series. Photo / The Block NZ
Then one of the contestants promised to give money to creditors of a failed company.
Dan Leen, whose new business is Southern Collective, and wife Meg Stallard featured on the Three series with the Pt Chevalier townhouses.
But last month Leen said he would use some of his winnings from the television series to partly pay people who lost money when a building company he was involved in went under.
Last decade, Leen was one of two directors of Collective Construction, which he and another put into liquidation.
When it failed, it had 33 unsecured creditors who claimed more than $500,000.
Leen wore a ponytail on the latest TV series and smiled broadly, while behind the scenes, creditors were fuming about not being paid last decade.
In other OIO deals just out, a $187m transaction by an American business was approved. Labels Buyer can buy assets from Platinum Equity Capital. That is to do with a business that supplies pressure sensitive labels, shrink sleeve packaging and linerless wraps.
A big snackfood deal got over the line too. Germany owned Intersnack International can buy $691m assets of URC Oceania.
"The applicant, together with its related companies, is one of Europe's leading manufacturers of savoury snacks," the OIO said.
It has entered into an agreement to acquire 51 per cent of the shares in the snack food business, which operates here.
"The target is an Australian company. It is the indirect parent company of New Zealand companies Griffin's Foods Limited and Proper Snack Foods. Griffin's is a leading New Zealand snack food company. Proper produces salty snacks," the consent said.
In 2019, the German business bought 49 per cent of the shares in the Australian business, the OIO noted.
