Carter Holt Harvey to sell its Bestwood and Kopine units, union claims closures
NZ Panels is 39.27 percent owned by Australian private equity fund Crescent Capital.
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Carter Holt Harvey, strongly tipped for sale by initial public offering, has entered a conditional agreement to sell its Kopine and Bestwood units to New Zealand Panels Group in a move that the FIRST Union says will lead to the closure of manufacturing plants in Wiri and Rangiora with the loss of around 40 jobs.
CHH is owned by New Zealand billionaire Graeme Hart, who was widely reported earlier this month as preparing to sell a 70 percent stake in the business by IPO in coming months.
NZ Panels is 39.27 percent owned by Australian private equity fund Crescent Capital, and is a supplier of particle board products supplied by Japanese-owned Juken Nissho. Crescent was behind the $244 million float of Metroglass, a window products manufacturer, on the NZX in July last year, among a range of involvements in New Zealand industrial plays in recent years.
A CHH spokesman would not comment on the buyer or terms of the sale, saying only that staff were going through a consultation process brought on by the transaction.
Asked whether CHH or the new owner would be responsible for plant closure decisions, he said: "That's part of the arrangement we are consulting about."
A statement from FIRST Union general secretary Robert Reid said only the CHH Woodproducts site at Kopu would remain open, employing around 10 people, under the consultations now occurring until May 8.
"FIRST Union has a good redundancy agreement with CHH which will help reduce the impact of the job losses if they occur," said Reid.
"We know that the Rank Group (Hart's investment vehicle) is trying to divest itself of its CHH operations but it seems counter-intuitive that, while housing demand remains high, two panel manufacturing sites are being closed".
(BusinessDesk)
Pattrick Smellie
Wed, 29 Apr 2015
Wed, 29 Apr 2015
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Carter Holt Harvey to sell its Bestwood and Kopine units, union claims closures
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