KEY POINTS:
Hanover Group is likely to sell half its $600 million property portfolio and expects to announce a deal within the next 90 days.
Mark Hotchin, who co-owns Hanover with business partner Eric Watson, said an inquiry from a buyer about part of the portfolio sparked a decision to examine the prospects of selling a large group of properties worth around $300 million.
"This is trophy property which we bought some years ago but this is not just selling one or two properties," Hotchin said yesterday.
"We're either going to do a chunky sale or not one at all. We'll sell if the price is right.
"Potentially it's half the portfolio which is worth around $600 million, depending on which valuer you talk to."
The assets are held by Hanover Property Group, formerly Axis Property.
Its website says it owns office buildings, shopping centres and hotels, coastal and lifestyle subdivisions and residential development.
"Hanover Property has been operating for over 10 years and has consistently achieved strong performance by identifying opportunities and creating innovative and competitive product," it says.
Hotchin could not say which properties were under review but said the group already knew which parties were capable of buying the larger ones.
Media coverage of the sale was unhelpful, he said, because it was a disruptive influence in the process and did not necessarily bring Hanover any new buyers.
Hanover had attractive coastal and lifestyle properties which it had added value to over some years and it had retained a large portfolio while they matured financially, Hotchin said.
The property market was continuing to perform extremely well and Hanover could use the funds to start new development projects.
Queenstown and coastal/lifestyle properties have performed spectacularly well this decade, recording some of the largest price jumps of any sector.
Foreign buyers have shown high interest in hotels and shopping centres are keenly sought after by large Australian superannuation funds.
Hotchin is one of the country's most significant investors in his own right.
He paid $14 million, the highest price recorded for a New Zealand house, for a place at Boatshed Bay on the eastern side of Waiheke Island's Palm Beach, a north-facing white sand stretch.
Hanover's portfolio
* Undeveloped sites in the Coromandel's Matarangi Beach Estates.
* The Highlands, part of Queenstown's Jacks Point housing development.
* A stake in Christchurch resort Clearwater.
* Novotel Hotel with 85 rooms in a heritage Palmerston North building.
* Two Christchurch shopping centres. Hanover awaits offer it just can't refuse
