Douglas Pharmaceuticals, a New Zealand-owned generic drug manufacturer serving local and export markets, is to stay in family ownership after testing the market, following numerous approaches from would-be buyers. Founder and managing director Graeme Douglas has backed keeping the Henderson-based company in family ownership after the company held a formal tender process through an information memorandum to prospective buyers.. A …

New Zealand building consents fell 1.5 percent in October, snapping four monthly gains, with Canterbury and apartments underpinning new permits and issuance up markedly on the previous year. The number of new dwellings consented fell to a seasonally adjusted 1,519 in October from 1,543 a month earlier, according to Statistics New Zealand. Stripping out apartment issuance, which tends to vary …

Energy Mad, which raised $5 million in an initial public offering last year to kick start sales of its energy-efficient light bulbs, widened its first-half loss after quality control issues in manufacturing a halogen bulb replacement for the Australian market. The shares dropped 8.5 percent. The loss was $500,000 in the six months ended Sept. 30, from a loss of …

Units in the Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund jumped 21 percent on their debut as investors clamoured to get more exposure to the dairy cooperative’s earnings after a $525 million initial public offer. The fund, which grants holders access to Fonterra’s dividends but not voting rights, opened at $6.66, after the issue price was set at $5.50 after a bookbuild, the top …

Trade Minister Tim Groser welcomes the arrival of over 500 negotiators from 11 countries to Round 15 of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, which runs from 3-12 December in Auckland. “TPP participants already take around 38 percent of our exports and include our largest services and international procurement markets,” says Groser. “A comprehensive 21st century agreement would provide many more opportunities to New Zealand businesses …

Foreign Minister Murray McCully confirmed  New Zealand will vote in favour of the resolution on the status of Palestine, due to go before the United Nations General Assembly this morning. But McCully says a UN resolution is “a poor substitute for direct negotiations between the two parties”. He says the primary reason for voting in favour of the resolution is …

GLOBAL MARKETS:  It was a rather lacklustre overnight session for markets. A positive start from yesterday’s sentiment that the US fiscal negotiations would be sewn up by Christmas faded as senior Democrat spokesperson, Chris van Hollen said they are “not close to a deal”. Republican US House Speaker John Boehner echoed similar sentiment, saying there had been “no substantive progress” on …

Underlining just how much in thrall of Washington global financial markets are right now, US stocks and the euro sold off after U.S. House Speaker and senior Republican John Boehner said there had been “no substantive progress” in talks to avoid the fiscal cliff. Boehner made the comments after speaking with President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, saying …

By Brierley Penn Food quality and security is becoming an increasing priority for Indonesia’s rapidly expanding middle class. This provides great potential for New Zealand firms to meet the growing demand in this market, particularly if they are able to differentiate themselves through the integrity of their products. It also creates a further opportunity to move up the value chain …

New Zealand shares edged up to a new five-year high as Sky Network Television surprised investors with a special dividend and Tower said it would return capital to shareholders after the sale of its medical insurance business. The NZX 50 Index rose 4.61 points, or 0.1 percent, to 4016.77, the highest since the start of January 2008. Within the index, …