Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Greens oppose overseas sale of Turners and Growers

Updated at 11:41 am on 11 November 2011

The Green Party says selling the country's biggest fresh produce company to overseas interests would be not be good for New Zealand.

Turners and Growers has roots in New Zealand going back to the orchardist Edward Turner, who established a fruit and flower shop in Auckland in 1883.

Multi-billion dollar German agriculture heavyweight BayWa has launched a $285 million takeover offer for the company.

The Munich-based company has already made a deal to buy a 63% stake in Turners and Growers from its major shareholder, Guinness Peat Group, and has made a full takeover offer for the rest of the shares.

The offer is subject to approval by New Zealand's Overseas Investment Office.

Greens economics spokesperson Russel Norman told Radio New Zealand's Morning Report programme on Friday that New Zealand could lose control of one of its most important primary sectors in the sale.

"The question is whether the Overseas Investment Office will decide that this is in New Zealand's national interest and it's hard to see how having this large value chain, which is quite important in New Zealand, in overseas ownership is going to be good for us."

Dr Norman says overseas investors should be made to go through a more rigourous test before they purchase New Zealand land or businesses.

Listen to Morning Report interview with Russel Norman

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