Velas' low profile hides strong business sense

By CHRIS DANIELS

Eyebrows were raised when the Velas were announced as second in line to buy the vast forestry estate of the Central North Island Forest Partnership.

How could the two brothers from the Waikato put together such a huge deal, when other, much larger corporates had shied away?

But those in the forestry industry would be likely to explain that a lack of profile should not be mistaken for a lack of big business nous.

Philip and Peter Vela's father, Filip, arrived in New Zealand in 1929, after emigrating from the Dalmatian coast. He founded fishing companies, which his sons took over and developed into one of New Zealand's largest privately owned fishing companies, Vela Fishing.

Vela Seafoods, based in Hamilton, was taken over by Goodman Fielder in 1987 before the latter merged with Wattie Industries. The brothers then bought it back for an undisclosed sum in 1991.

One fishing industry insider said the Velas kept a low profile in the industry, rarely making public comments and often not participating in industry forums.

"The story used to be that the company was run out of a phone box at Te Rapa. They don't really own vessels or shore-side processing. What they do do is stitch together deals, they bring in the capacity, they are managing a harvest and marketing operation."

For them to still be so successful in the fishing industry after so long, they must have established an extremely good reputation with a wide range of international players, including many in Asia, he said.

"I couldn't even tell you which nations they use to catch their fish. They've avoided direct investment ... what they do is manage relationships and do it in a low-profile way."

One part of their business where the Velas would find it hard to keep such a low profile is in the bloodstock industry. They own last year's Melbourne Cup winner, Ethereal, who was recently retired after winning $5.75 million in her racing career.

Peter is the chairman of New Zealand Bloodstock, which the brothers jointly own. New Zealand Bloodstock runs the annual yearling sales at Karaka.

Their wealth was estimated to be $50 million by the National Business Review Rich List in 2000.

In 1998 the brothers attracted media attention when they became involved in a dispute with an English Lord who claimed they had left his 15th century castle owing more than $19,000 in rent and shooting fees.

The brothers said they had been wrongly painted as colonial scoundrels by Lord Ailwyn Fairhaven, who sued them for unpaid rent and accused them of taking a fax Machine from Kirtling Tower in Cambridgeshire.

But the Velas counter-claimed, saying Fairhaven owed them more than $25,000 in overpaid rent on the castle.

The Velas had been using the castle since 1994 as a base for entertaining export clients with pheasant and partridge shooting.