BP seeks to buy prime Gisborne farm

Press, 1 April 1980, Page 3

BP seeks to buy prime Gisborne farm

PA Wellington Negotiations are well advanced for the giant overseas owned BP New Zealand, Ltd, to buy a prime Gisborne farm in a multimillion dollar deal.

The company intends undertaking a major forestry development on the site, a proposition which is likely to incur the wrath of fanning interests. There have been suggestions that the property could have been subdivided into a number of smaller farms. It is believed that BP has yet to receive final approval to buy the property. As an overseas-owned company, this will have to be given by the Government. : .. ’ - ■ .

However, this approval is expected within the next 10 days. The proposed sale comes after a major row over the sale, for $1 million, of a Coromandel farm to a Saudi Arabian prince who wants to turn it into a stud-breeding farm. Gisborne farmers are at

the forefront of protests against the Government’s agreeing to allow the Gisborne purchase to proceed. The farm is unusual in that it is one of the few in New Zealand to be owned by an overseas company.

It is the property of the Kiore Sheepfanning Company, Ltd, incorporated in Birmingham, England. Two directors negotiated the sale last week and have returned home to complete details. There are a number of New Zealand shareholders in the British company.

The sale was negotiated by Dalgety New Zealand, Ltd, whose Gisborne manager (Mr P. Cloake) described it as a “good property: one of the few remaining large properties on the coast.” It is believed that the forestry' management will be undertaken by Fletcher’s, and it appears possible it will join BP in a joint venture to handle and own the property. This, too, is to be finalised in the next fortnight or so.