$600m sale of Sistema gets green light from OIO

The Overseas Investment Office has given approval for the sale of Sistema to Newell Brands for $660 million.

Newell - the company behind brands like Rubbermaid and Sunbeam - will keep manufacturing in New Zealand for the next 20 years at the company's new 52,000sqm, $120 million manufacturing facility near Auckland Airport.

The sale of Sistema to New Jersey-based Newell, which has a market capitalisation of US$22 billion, will help take the company to a new level, Kiwi owner Brendan Lindsay told the Herald last December.

"Newell has the expertise and market access that will enable them to take the business to the next level and create new opportunities for the company, especially in North America," he said.

Sistema sells a range of plastic storage containers in more than 90 countries, with offices in Australia, UK, France, Scandinavia, and the US, and has an extensive distribution network.

Newell would help elevate Sistema's performance in the elusive United States market, Lindsay said.

Newell made the first approach in 2014, but the sticking point was his stipulation that the company's manufacturing base needed to remain in New Zealand.

He also had approaches from private equity companies who wanted the opportunity to list the business on the NZX.