BNP Paribas-Backed Future Forests Expands Wellington Forestry Holdings
Future Forests NZ Limited (France 61%, Netherlands 31%, Germany 7%, Luxembourg 1%) has been granted consent to acquire a freehold interest in approximately 549 hectares across four forests – Okoia I, Okoia II, Glencroft I, and Glencroft II – in the Wellington district. Vendors include multiple Chinese and New Zealand individuals and entities. The company is a newly formed New Zealand entity owned by the BNP Paribas Future Forest Fund SLP, a Luxembourg-based forestry investment fund. The land contains 457 hectares of productive Pinus radiata forest, which will continue to be used for sustainable commercial forestry.
Consent was granted as the applicant met the investor test criterion and the special forestry test, supporting economic benefits through continued forestry operations while complying with environmental and land-use regulations. Future Forests NZ’s Wellington acquisitions highlight the growing role of foreign-managed institutional forestry funds in New Zealand. While these investments maintain productive forestry use, they exemplify a broader trend of offshore control over productive land, raising questions about long-term local influence over land management and strategic forestry planning.
Stonepeak-Backed Arvida Expands Wanaka Retirement Village Developments
Arvida RV1 Limited (Asia 43%, Middle East 38%, North America 13%, Various 6%) has been granted consent to acquire approximately 9.6887 hectares of sensitive land across three sites in Wanaka, Queenstown: 85 Orchard Road (3.5904 ha), 248 Riverbank Road (3.3467 ha), and 296 Riverbank Road (2.7516 ha). Vendors include The Hall Family Trust, Denise Jane Prince & John Mark Prince, and the Telfer Family Trust (NZ 100%). The applicant is a subsidiary of Arvida Limited, a national retirement village operator ultimately owned by Stonepeak Partners LLC, a global investment firm.
The land will be developed into a retirement village comprising approximately 167 independent villas and 28 dual-purpose care suites, with associated infrastructure and amenities. Arvida will operate the village, providing retirement and aged care services. The investment is expected to deliver benefits to New Zealand through capital expenditure, employment creation, and advancing Government housing and aged-care policy objectives.
Arvida’s Wanaka expansion reflects continued offshore investment into New Zealand’s aged-care and retirement sectors. While the development delivers economic and social benefits, the growing proportion of foreign ownership in critical retirement infrastructure raises questions about long-term local governance and strategic control over essential community assets.
See also: Scoop, “New Zealand’s Retirement Village Sector Continues To Expand, But Future Supply Concerns Loom”, 2024.
Australian Private Equity Moves To Control Major New Zealand Data Centre Portfolio
Qubit BidCo Limited (99.86% overseas-owned, a vehicle owned by funds managed or advised by Australian private equity firm Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) has been granted consent to acquire 11 data centres from Spark New Zealand Trading Limited, including assets held through its subsidiaries Computer Concepts Limited and Revera Limited, for $486 million. The transaction will see Qubit BidCo acquire the data centre business and associated assets used for co-location, power and cooling, environmental controls, and secure access services. Following completion, Spark will retain a 25% shareholding in the new entity, while Pacific Equity Partners–managed funds have approval to increase their interest from 75% to 100%.
The investment was subject to a national interest assessment because the assets form part of a strategically important telecommunications business. The Minister of Finance determined that the transaction is not contrary to New Zealand’s national interest, and consent was granted on the basis that the investor test criteria were met. This approval continues a long-running pattern of foreign private equity acquiring control over New Zealand’s core digital and telecommunications infrastructure. While Spark retains a minority stake, effective control of critical data centre assets shifts offshore, raising ongoing concerns about data sovereignty, infrastructure resilience, and long-term public accountability in sectors fundamental to New Zealand’s digital economy.
See also: RNZ, “Spark Sells Data Centre Business To Australian firm”, 2021, Watchdog 115, “Telecom Drags the Chain”, August 2007 https://www.converge.org.nz/watchdog/15/07.htm.
UK Health Giant Expands Control Of New Zealand Retirement Village Land
Bupa Care Services NZ Limited and Bupa Retirement Villages Limited (100% UK-owned, subsidiaries of global health and aged-care conglomerate British United Provident Association (Bupa)) have been granted consent to acquire approximately 12.94 hectares of sensitive land at Molesworth Drive, Mangawhai. The consent enables Bupa to acquire vacant land from AINZ Fund 12 Limited for the purpose of developing and operating a retirement village and associated care home. The purchase price has been withheld. The application was assessed on the basis that the proposal would result in the construction of a long-term accommodation facility.
This approval adds to the continuing expansion of foreign ownership and control of New Zealand’s aged-care and retirement village sector, particularly in high-amenity coastal and regional areas. While framed as an increased housing outcome, the development further embeds offshore corporate control over residential land and essential social infrastructure, raising ongoing concerns about land accessibility, affordability, and the long-term public interest in a sector increasingly dominated by global private healthcare operators.
Singaporean-French Partnership Expands Southland Hyperscale Data Centre
DG Founders General Partner Pte Ltd and Datagrid New Zealand Limited Partnership (New Zealand 44%, France 31%, Austria 25%) have been granted to acquire a 25.15% shareholding in Datagrid Holding Group General Partner Pte Ltd, along with 9.63 hectares of freehold land in Makarewa and Lorneville, Southland. The land will be used to construct an access road for the development of a hyperscale data centre park. The purchase price has been withheld. The Applicants are developing the Makarewa data centre in partnership with BW Digital Pte Ltd.
DG Founders is majority-owned by the Galasso Family Trust, headed by French citizen Rémi Galasso and his New Zealand citizen spouse, Mania Marion Mosafer-Galasso. It was stated to likely to benefit New Zealand through increased data processing capacity, improved connectivity resilience, added competition in the data centre sector, capital investment, and job creation. This transaction represents another step in the growing trend of foreign capital dominating New Zealand’s digital infrastructure, particularly hyperscale data centres critical for national connectivity. While the development is framed as a local economic and technological benefit, effective control of key digital assets increasingly rests offshore, raising questions about long-term sovereignty over critical communications infrastructure.
See also: Watchdog 160, (August 2022) “Digital Big Boys To Set Up In NZ” https://www.converge.org.nz/watchdog/60/15.html
French Construction Giant Expands Northland Quarry Holdings
Vinci Construction New Zealand Limited (North America 21%, UK 18%, France 15%, Europe 13%, Qatar 2%, Various 31%) has been granted to acquire 100% of the shares in Wharehine Group Holdings Limited, giving the Applicant an indirect freehold interest in approximately 8.477 hectares of land at Matakana, Ruakaka, and Kawakawa Quarries. The purchase consideration has been withheld. The Applicant is a New Zealand subsidiary of VINCI SA, the French global concessions, energy, and construction company.
The acquisition aims to integrate the quarries with VINCI’s existing New Zealand infrastructure business, HEB Construction Limited, generating economic benefits through operational synergies, efficiency gains, and reduced construction costs. While framed as an efficiency-driven expansion, the transaction continues the broader trend of foreign-controlled entities consolidating key infrastructure resources in New Zealand, including extractive and construction assets. The long-term implications of foreign ownership of strategic building materials and quarry sites remain an ongoing policy concern.
See also: Matakana Coast App “Part One: Wharehine – A Kiwi Icon In Foreign Sights”, November 2025.
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Australian-Backed Forestry Research Expands In North Canterbury
Radiata Pine Breeding Company Limited (Australia 33%, New Zealand 27%, Canada 15%, USA 9%, British Virgin Islands 7%, Japan 5%, UK 2%, Hong Kong 1%, Various 1%) has been granted consent under section 12(1)(a) of the Overseas Investment Act 2005 to acquire 23.083 hectares at 82 Limeloader Lane, Glasnevin, North Canterbury for $1.2 million. The vendor is Alpine Produce New Zealand Limited (100% NZ). The Applicant is a New Zealand-registered not-for-profit company, based at the University of Canterbury School of Forestry, ultimately owned by forestry industry stakeholders.
The land is currently used for grazing fodder crops and will be converted into a tree breeding orchard for research and development in forestry genetics. This investment is likely to deliver benefits to New Zealand through enhanced research capabilities, innovation in tree breeding, and economic gains for the forestry sector however the company remains majority overseas-owned, illustrating how productive farmland continues to be transferred into forestry use under relatively low scrutiny.
Forestry and research-related acquisitions are treated more leniently than other forms of overseas investment, despite their cumulative impact on land availability, rural communities, and food production. The approval relies heavily on claimed “industry benefits” without any enforceable mechanism to ensure that long-term gains, intellectual property, or control over land use remain in New Zealand, reinforcing ongoing concerns about the steady erosion of domestic control over strategic rural land.
Overseas Forestry Investor Continues Land Accumulation Under Standing Consent
Totara Forestry Services Limited (Germany 74%, Finland 19%, Various 7%) has notified its third land acquisition under a standing consent granted under the special forestry test, acquiring approximately 410.0270 hectares of land at 419 Daggs Road, Bideford, in the Masterton District for $7.785 million. The transaction was approved under section 23A of the Overseas Investment Act 2005 as part of a standing consent allowing up to 10,000 hectares to be acquired across 20 transactions by October 2027. The consent holder is part of the Craigmore Sustainables Group, an overseas-owned forestry investment manager specialising in large-scale plantation forestry in New Zealand.
The land will continue to be used for commercial forestry, with harvesting expected to commence around 2048. While treated administratively as a routine standing-consent notification, the transaction illustrates how the special forestry pathway enables the progressive transfer of large areas of rural land into overseas-controlled forestry portfolios without reassessment of cumulative impacts. It is to be noted that long raised concerns that standing consents normalise incremental foreign control of land, reduce transparency, and limit public scrutiny of long-term effects on land use, rural communities, and domestic control over strategic natural resources.
See also: RNZ, “US Buying Up Our Primary Industries”, 2021.
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European Forestry Fund Expands Holdings Under Standing Consent
Kauri Forestry LP (Switzerland 71%, Germany 29%) has notified its third land acquisition under a standing consent granted under the special forestry test, purchasing approximately 355.7 hectares at Waitawhiti Road, Tinui (Puketawa Forest) in the Masterton district for $4.02 million. The transaction proceeds under section 23A of the Overseas Investment Act 2005 as part of a standing consent issued in June 2024, allowing the acquisition of up to 10,000 hectares across 40 transactions by June 2027.
The consent holder is part of the Craigmore Sustainables Group, a major overseas-owned forestry investment manager operating extensively across New Zealand. The land will continue to be used for commercial forestry, with harvesting expected from around 2044. While treated as an administrative notification, the acquisition reflects the ongoing accumulation of large tracts of rural land by overseas forestry funds through standing consents, a mechanism that limits public scrutiny of cumulative land-use change and long-term foreign control of productive land.
See also: RNZ, “Overseas Investment Office Approves Sales Of Four Farms For Conversion To Forestry”, 2023.
Watchdog 158 (December 2021), September 2021 OIO Decisions https://www.converge.org.nz/watchdog/58/13.html
Overseas-Backed Development Granted Retrospective Consent For Queenstown Housing Site
Lochy Road Queenstown Limited Partnership (United States 39%, Australia 37%, New Zealand 23%, Singapore 1%) has been granted retrospective consent under section 12(1)(a) of the Overseas Investment Act 2005 to acquire approximately 1.6 hectares of sensitive residential land at Lochy Road, Fernhill, Queenstown, for $5 million. The applicant intends to construct 50 townhouses for on-sale, with consent granted on the basis that the investment will result in an increased housing outcome.
The application was retrospective after the sale and purchase agreement was entered into without Overseas Investment Office consent, following the later formation of a limited partnership that qualified as an overseas person under the Act. While Land Information NZ (LINZ) accepted the breach as inadvertent and imposed a $30,000 penalty, the case highlights ongoing compliance risks associated with offshore-backed residential developments in high-pressure housing markets such as Queenstown. The reliance on retrospective approvals continues to raise concerns about enforcement strength and the effectiveness of the overseas investment regime in regulating speculative residential land acquisition.
See also: Watchdog 148 (August 2018), “Is Control Of Foreign Control Within Our Grasp? If Only That Was More Than Wishful Thinking”, by Murray Horton, https://www.converge.org.nz/watchdog/48/01.html.