Business

“While the New Zealand economy has gathered momentum over the last few years, it faces important challenges, including high private foreign liabilities, slowing demand from some trading partners, volatile international commodity prices, a strong exchange rate, and a highly-indebted farm sector. Moreover, New Zealand’s labour productivity and income per capita continue to lag behind OECD averages.” – WTO Secretariat Executive …

Meridian Energy and Rio Tinto-controlled New Zealand Aluminium Smelters have extended their electricity agreement for another month, giving the Tiwai Point smelter owner a little more time to sort out its electricity needs. Wellington-based Meridian agreed with NZAS last night to extend the date the smelter owner can terminate their agreement until Aug. 3, while keeping all other terms unchanged, …

Briscoe Group, the retailer controlled by managing director Rod Duke, has acquired 19.9 percent of Kathmandu and said it plans to make a full takeover offer for the outdoor equipment and clothing chain. Auckland-based Briscoe said it picked up 4.99 percent of Kathmandu over time and has subsequently acquired 14.9 percent of the target from institutional investors for $1.80 a share. That …

The NZ US Partnership Forum provided the opportunity to present recommendations for what should come next in the relationship between New Zealand and the United States. There was overwhelming support for New Zealand to lobby for entrepreneur visas, similar to the E-3 visas granted to Australians. New Zealand has a large pool of entrepreneurs that want to drive the creation …

Address by the Hon Tim Groser, Minister of Trade and Minister of Climate Change Issues: US/NZ Partnership Forum, Auckland 30 June 2015 I would like to thank our two co-chairs, the Hon Simon Power, Chair of the NZ-US Council and Stu Van Soyoc, President of the US-based counterpart organisation for assuming joint responsibility for the Partnership Forum. I think it …

Panel discussion: Investor Guidance for Raising Money in Los Angeles Mr Bruce Stein, Principal, Westridge Consulting, LLC Mr Robert Perille, Partner, Shamrock Capital Advisors Mr Craig Cooper CCP, LLC Chance Barnett, CEO, Crowdfunder Moderator: Mr Mitchell Berman, Managing Partner Zen Media Entertainment Group People in the private equity space are miserable at the moment because they are finding valuations at …

Through no fault of their own, New Zealand (and even different parts of America) have a cartoonish view of cities in the United States. People tend to think of Los Angeles solely as Hollywood and made up of “fake” people. New Zealand companies – particularly those involved in technology, think of San Francisco or Silicon Valley as their default launchpad. …

The 2015 Capital Markets report covers an in-depth look at capital market trends. Takeovers, bonds, IPOs and foreign direct investment. Partial Privatisation – are the SOEs meeting market expectations? Rising stars in the investment scene and the big deals; Cooperative investment and how it can be boosted, the NZX’s new directions to grow the NZ market and much more. This …

Remote measurement software developer ikeGPS will miss its prospectus revenue targets for the 2015 financial year, but says that’s because sales of its new smartphone application, Spike, are running three months behind schedule and are expected to exceed targets. Eight months after listing on the NZX, the company also says it’s entertaining interest from US investors. While ikeGPS had no requirement for cash, …

In the 2015 China Business report, the focus was on the latest Chinese trends affecting the New Zealand economy and business. We travelled to China to investigate how Beijing’s innovation drive was changing the Chinese commercial landscape and creating new opportunities for New Zealand companies; how New Zealand dairy companies were faring in a more competitive environment in China and …