Wellington-headquartered PartsTrader has been sold. Photo / Google reviews
A majority American-owned company has won consent to buy a Wellington motor vehicle parts trading business for $650 million.
Toitū Te Whenua, the Overseas Investment Office, this week released 12 decisions clearing foreign entities to buy New Zealand properties and companies.
Total asset values of $650m were revealed in the huge deal for a Wellington business, founded 22 years ago.
On February 10, PartsTrader Holdings, 59% American-owned, won consent to buy 99% New Zealand-owned PartsTrader Markets.
The Kiwi company says it connects automotive repairers with hundreds of parts suppliers.
That business aims to ensure “access to the right part for the right price every time”.
The buyer is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitchell Topco Holdings, a widely held American company which develops software used by the automotive industry to manage collision and medical claims, parts and labour estimates, and glass replacement quotes.
That US business is buying the Wellington-founded business of PartsTrader Markets and intends to amalgamate and continue building its business across the United States and New Zealand.
The New Zealand business was founded in 2004 by Colin and Rosie Bevan, with Rob Cooper and Mark Ford.
It enables those fixing cars to get many confidential quotes from suppliers online, aiming to get the best combination of price, delivery time, and quality.
PartsTrader said it had succeeded “despite economic downturns ... a passion for espresso coffee and a commitment to growth helped the company expand”.
It had already made links with Americans.
“In 2010, a partnership with the largest United States automobile insurer led to the company splitting into PartsTrader Markets (development) and PartsTrader NZ and US (market-facing functions),” it says on its website.
That insurer was State Farm, which signed up the Kiwi business as a ready-made procurement business for crash repairs.
A corporate deal involving a New Zealand clothing business also won consent from the office.
Australian-owned private equity investor QSEF-Management, on behalf of the Quadrant Strategic Equity Fund, won approval to buy a quarter of locally-owned AS Colour, which operates here and internationally.
Consent was granted because the applicant met the investor test criterion. The amount of money involved was suppressed.
The 100% New Zealand-owned business, Direct Capital, was the vendor.
AS Colour was founded in Auckland in 2005 with a vision to raise the standard of wholesale blank apparel, it says.
It was founded by Lawrence Railton.
“We pride ourselves on producing high-quality, functional blank apparel that stands the test of time.
“AS Colour has grown from humble beginnings to now operate 27 retail locations and six distribution facilities across Europe, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand,” the company said.
The company’s registered office with the Companies Office is at Kakano Rd, Westgate, near Massey, in Auckland.
The deal just approved was for Quadrant to buy up to 25% of the shares in AS Colour Holdings.
Companies Office records show Marcus Darville of Australia, Lawrence Railton of Remuera, Christopher Willis of Morningside and Mark MacNicol of Ōrākei are directors of AS Colour Holdings.
A Japanese business has also been cleared to buy nearly 30ha of Jacks Point land near Lake Wakatipu outside Queenstown, where it plans a luxury lodge.
The site is bare land on Lodge Rd and Australians and New Zealanders are selling it.
Wild Grass Ltd Partnership and Wild Grass Investments No. 1 are the vendors.
The buyer is Beyond NZ HotelCo, which has a family-owned Japanese parent company.
That company specialises in architecture and construction, the decision said.
The purchase price was suppressed.
“The main benefits to New Zealand are likely to include increased capital expenditure, the creation of employment and increased export receipts. It also advances significant government policies in relation to tourism,” the decision said.
Consent was granted because the Japanese met the investor test criterion and the investment is likely to benefit New Zealand.
Elsewhere in the South Island, Australians won approval to buy 8.3ha of land on Springs Rd, Lincoln, Christchurch, where retirement living is planned.
Lincoln Grange won consent to buy land from Earlsbrook Residential.
The applicant is a joint venture between Assetz NZ Freedom and Freedom Group Holdings, part of the Freedom Lifestyle Group, which has been a retirement village operator in New Zealand for more than a decade.
It will develop and operate a retirement village on the land, which is currently vacant.
Australia’s Centuria Funds Management can complete a $118.8m purchase, also in Auckland and Christchurch.
Centuria Funds Management (NZ) is establishing a new investment fund to acquire two large-format retail properties.
Those are the Southgate Shopping Centre in Takanini and Hornby Mall in Hornby, Christchurch.
The Takanini property is 4.51ha and is on the corner of Great South Rd and Walters Rd.
The Christchurch property is 1.98ha and at Hornby Mall, 6 and 14 Chappie Place.
Mark Francis is CEO of Centuria’s New Zealand division and he heads NZX-listed Asset Plus.
A Japanese corporation’s purchase of a global business was the biggest deal involving New Zealand assets bought by foreigners in 2025, official data shows.
Nippon Life Insurance won consent for New Zealand assets in its purchase of the global assets of Resolution Life from Blackstone ISG Investment Partners.
That involved $14.6b of insurance assets.
The second-largest was the $4.2b Fonterra sale of retail brands, which include Mainland and Anchor.
Two Canadian-controlled businesses got clearance to invest US$700 million ($1.1 billion) in FNZ Group.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 26 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.