New Zealand: Lion Nathan takes back brewery site in Auckland

Lion Nathan Ltd, New Zealand’s leading beer maker, is taking back the 5.2 ha brewery site in Newmarket, Auckland, it sold three years ago but is still moving to a new brewery in South Auckland, The Sydney Morning Herald reported on September, 30.

AMP and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) have failed to take a potential $NZ1 billion project on what is believed to be the biggest property development site in New Zealand forward, resulting in its return to the vendor.

The sale of the Khyber Pass Road property for $NZ162 million was agreed in 2007 before the global financial crisis crunched credit and investors' appetite for risk.

The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed but AMP Capital NZ Property Fund wrote down its investment in APEREF II to zero in March and expects no further impact.

Lion Nathan said it will suffer no adverse financial impact in the 2010 financial year.

Graham Law, managing director of AMP Capital Investors, said the strategy was to attract both new equity and project finance. When it became clear that it would not be possible to secure that, GNDL commenced a process with Lion Nathan to agree the terms on which the site would be returned.

01 October, 2010