New Zealand

This page highlights government asset sales in New Zealand, offering a point of reference for telecommunication privatisations.

It covers -

• introduction
• landmarks

     introduction

As in Australia, privatisation in New Zealand was not confined to telecommunications but extended across financial services (retail banks, home loans, funds management and insurance), infrastructure (eg pipelines and airports), transport (rail, shipping, airlines), energy (gas, electricity generation and distribution), manufacturing and other sectors.

It is estimated that the sale of New Zealand state owned enterprises and other assets yielded US$4 billion from 1987 to 1992, with total proceeds from the New Zealand privatisation programme by the end of 2001 coming to approximately US$7 billion.

     landmarks

New Zealand experienced most asset sales in the late 1980s and the early 1990s.

Landmarks include -

1986 Bank of New Zealand - float

1988 Petrocorp - trade sale

1988 - Health Computing Service - trade sale

1988 Bank of New Zealand - float of government shares

1989 Air New Zealand - trade sale (NZ$660m)

1989 PostBank - trade sale (NZ$665m)

1989 NZ Shipping Corporation - trade sale

1989 Rural Bank - trade sale

1990 National Film Unit - trade sale

1990 NZ forests - trade sale (NZ$1.018bn)

1990 State Insurance Office - trade sale

1990 Tourist Hotel Corp - trade sale

1990 NZ Liquid Fuel Corporation - trade sale

1990 Export Guarantee Ltd - trade sale

1990 Telecom NZ - trade sale (NZ$4.25bn)

1990 Government Printing Office

1991 Housing Corp Mortgage - trade sale

1992 New Zealand Timberlands - trade sale (NZ$366m)

1993 New Zealand Rail - trade sale (NZ$$400m)

1993 WEL Energy Group - float

1994 Government Computer Services (GCS) - trade sale

1996 Southern Ocean Seafood and Regal Salmon - trade sale

1996 commercial operations of RNZ - trade sale

1998 Auckland International Airport - floated

1998 Wellington International Airport - floated

1999 Contact Energy - trade sale (NZ$1.2bn) and float (NZ$1.13bn)

2005 25% of Vector - float (NZ$600m)

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