KEY POINTS:
Australian buyers were at the forefront of $20.3 billion worth of takeover and merger deals in New Zealand last year, accounting for the single largest group of dealmakers.
But the four biggest deals all involved interests of New Zealand billionaire Graeme Hart, via Rank Group, Carter Holt Harvey and Uncle Tobys.
United States research house Thomson Financial this week released data on merger and acquisition activity in the last year and said Australians had emerged as the single most active group ahead of New Zealand buyers who ranked second and Canadians in third place.
The number of New Zealand merger and acquisition deals rose 27 per cent to 456 last year and the value of deals was up 10.9 per cent to reach US$14.2 billion ($20.3 billion), Thomson said.
"New Zealand merger and acquisition activity was led by Australian acquirers as they accounted for US$3.8 billion in total rank value. Domestic investors were second most active with deals valued at US$3.1 billion while Canadian companies rounded out the top three with volume of US$1 billion," the Thomson report said.
Major Australian deals mentioned in the Thomson report included Transpacific Industries' $870 million takeover and delisting of Waste Management and newspaper publisher John Fairfax's $700 million purchase of online business Trade Me.
Regarding Hart's involvement, the report said: "In New Zealand merger and acquisitions, Rank Group's US$2.1 billion challenging tender offer for the entire ordinary share capital of SIG Holding was the most notable transaction in 2006. Rank Group's US$1 billion completed tender offer to acquire the remaining 42.4 per cent stake in Burns Philp was second largest followed by Hancock Natural Resources Group's US$992.3 million acquisition of Carter Holt Harveys forest estate."
Hart was also a part of the fourth largest deal. In May, Burns Philp's Uncle Tobys brand was sold to Nestle for about $1.1 billion.
Credit Suisse emerged as New Zealand's leading financial adviser, involved in 11 deals worth US$5.6 billion, followed by UBS and Goldman Sachs.
Global takeover and merger activity reached a record US$3.8 trillion, the Thomson report said, mostly driven by the rise of private equity firms which helped drive an increasing number of deals. But Thomson found private equity was less at play in New Zealand.
"Global announced merger and acquisition activity reached a record of US$3.8 trillion, an increase of 37.9 per cent over the 2005 volume, surpassing the previous record of US$3.4 trillion set in 2000. The fourth quarter was the busiest quarter in 2006, as deals announced in the last three months of the year approached US$1.3 trillion in rank value, representing 34.1 per cent of global volume," the report said.
The energy and power sectors led international merger and acquisition deals last year, narrowly topping the financial sector. The energy and power sectors attracted deals worth US$600 billion, representing a 40.4 per cent increase in total volumes on 2005.
Top five deals
* Rank Group's US$2.05 billion takeover offer for Swiss packaging group SIG.
* Rank Group's US$1 billion takeover of the 42.4 per cent of Burns Philp it did not already own.
* Hancock Natural Resources Group's US$992 million takeover of Carter Holt Harvey forestry interests.
* Nestle's US$669.5 million acquisition of Uncle Tobys.
* Transpacific's US$579 million takeover of Waste Management.
