KEY POINTS:
Swiss quarry and cement giant Holcim has Government approval to buy large blocks of land in North Otago where it is planning to establish a new cement plant.
In the latest round of decisions released by the Overseas Investment Office, Holcim made five separate applications for land purchases.
All involve Holcim's plans for a new cement plant, quarries and pits at Weston, 5km northwest of Oamaru.
The price Holcim is paying for the land has been suppressed but other details were released.
Holcim got approval to buy 111ha from Meadowbrook Farm, 20ha from the Harveys, 5.3ha from Windsor Blue, 9.2ha from the Hardwicks and 4.6ha from the Coopers.
All the applications said Holcim's Westport cement works was operating at capacity, could not meet current demand and had a limited economic life.
So it wants to establish and operate a cement manufacturing complex on land in the Waitaki district, a move which would create jobs, increase efficiencies in cement manufacturing operations and introduce additional investment into New Zealand for development purposes, the commission found.
Holcim produces about 500,000 tonnes of cement annually from its works at Cape Foulwind. It also operates a network of ready-mixed concrete plants in Auckland and Hamilton.
In other applications, the commission approved a $106,705,716 deal for Australia's Crescent Capital Partners to buy NZX-listed Abano Healthcare Group.
But the price of a deal involving land in the Blenheim area was suppressed. Framingham Wines, owned by interests in Portugal, got clearance to buy 19.7ha of land in the Nelson/Marlborough area from France's Pernod Ricard New Zealand and Framingham Wine Company.
A $6 million deal by Britain's Antipodean Properties to buy land in Auckland was approved.
The 0.4ha block of land at 111 Lincoln Rd in Henderson complemented the applicant's existing New Zealand holdings, the commission said.
"This comprises the Three Kings Plaza, the Three Kings Shopping Centre, a portfolio of 10 supermarket properties and an undivided half share in another portfolio of 18 supermarket properties," the commission said. "The relevant land comprises part of the Lincoln Centre, a well-established bulk retail centre."
Contact Energy - 59 per cent Australian - was cleared to buy 153ha of land in the Taupo area for $4 million.
Contact wanted to use the land for geothermal energy operations in the Tauhara area and wanted to invest up to $2 billion in renewable energy projects in the next five years, the commission said.
Nobilo Wine Group of the United States got approval for a $993,000 deal to buy 22ha of Blenheim land for vineyard purposes.
FOREIGN DEALS
* 10 overseas investment deals were approved in January.
* They involve business worth about $134 million.
* The Overseas Investment Office releases monthly data.
* February decisions will be released by the end of March.
