The next three weeks will see the government mount a $1.1 million mass market television, newspaper and internet campaign to entice New Zealanders to invest in the 49 percent of state-owned electricity company, MightyRiverPower, being offered for sale. Pre-registrations of interest will open tomorrow and last three weeks until March 22, placing would-be small-scale investors in MRP into the queue …

The New Zealand dollar fell to a two-month low as weaker-than-expected Australian data sapped already strained investors’ appetite for higher yields, with Italy’s election keeping people uncertain about Europe’s future and the US Federal government preparing to impose dramatic budget cuts. The kiwi fell as low as 82.08 US cents, its lowest level this year, and traded at 82.10 cents …

New Zealand shares fell from near a 5-year high after Rupert Murdoch’s News Ltd said it will sell a 44 percent stake in Sky Network Television at a discount, prompting investors to liquidate other holdings to free up funds. The NZX 50 Index declined 64.38 points, or 1.5 percent, to 4253.60. Within the index, 40 stocks fell, eight rose and …

Yanking the levers of the banking system to choke off a credit cycle boom requires care, since there’s no guarantee how people will start borrowing again once the lever is released, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand says. “A counter-cyclical buffer would be ‘released’ when there were clear signs the credit cycle had peaked,” the central bank says in a …

New Zealand commodity prices rose for a seventh month in February, led by gains in the price of butter, though the strength of the local currency meant they were flat in kiwi dollar terms. The ANZ Commodity Price index rose 1 percent to 275.3 last month, with 10 of the basket of 17 raw materials lifting in price. Five were …

Allied Farmers, which reported a further $4.1 million writedown on its ex-Hanover Finance assets last week, is trying to cobble together a loan repayment by the end of the day in a bid to stave off a potential liquidation. The Hawera-based company is in talks with various parties, including secured lender Crown Asset Management on a repayment proposal to a …

Fonterra Cooperative Group, the world’s biggest dairy exporter, is going ahead with a plan to build a cheese plant and dairy ingredient factory in the north of the Netherlands with Dutch dairy firm A-ware Food Group. The dairy companies will develop a greenfield site in Heerenveen where A-ware will operate a cheese plant and Fonterra the ingredients unit alongside, Fonterra …

Former Hanover Finance shareholders Mark Hotchin and Eric Watson have settled their defamation suit against the New Zealand Shareholders Association and continue to pursue its former chairman Bruce Sheppard. The association awarded its 2010 Golden Glob award to the two businessmen in 2010, a gong it gives out for “appalling corporate practise.” Sheppard gave media interviews in 2009 where he …

Warehouse Group, which reports its first-half profit this week, will spend up to $33 million buying online retailer Torpedo7, just months after buying consumer electronics chain Noel Leeming Group. The country’s biggest listed retailer will pay $20 million upon settlement, and up to a further $13 million over the next three years if earn-out targets are met, for a 51 …

Rupert Murdoch’s News Ltd is quitting its stake in pay-TV operator Sky Network Television for $815.3 million through an underwritten placement to institutional investors at a 7.2 percent discount. Sky TV’s shares were halted after News said it will sell its 44 percent stake in the New Zealand firm in a placement underwritten and managed by Deutsche Bank and Craigs …