New Zealand’s global innovation ranking has slipped from 17th to 18th, while Australia has jumped three places to 17th in rankings calculated for the 2014 Global Innovation Index, compiled by Cornell University. While New Zealand scores highly in areas such as political stability (3rd), investor protection (1st), effective government (9th) and regulatory quality (4th), the overall ranking is pulled down …

Wellington property investor Caniwi Capital has bought and leased back seven of  nine New Zealand properties housing Inghams Enterprises chicken farming operations in a $57 million deal that releases capital for Texas Pacific Group, the US private equity firm that paid A$880 million for the Australasian Inghams operation in March last year. The transaction represents the New Zealand leg of TPG’s …

Struck off financial adviser Andrew Robinson, who is separately accused of stealing investor funds, has been ordered to pay $2.56 million in damages plus costs to an investor over a series of negligent and misleading deals. In the Auckland High Court, Justice John Fogarty made the order against Robinson, a former Sunday Star-Times columnist and adviser to Neville Mace and his family trust, over “six disastrous …