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November 18, 2013
Air New Zealand shares flying without iwi
Waatea Team
Posted On November 18, 2013
Labour MP Nanaia Mahuta says it is unlikely iwi will pick up any shares of the latest state enterprise to be sold off.
The Government yesterday announced it was selling 20 percent of Air New Zealand, bringing its shareholding down to 53 percent.
It expects Treasury to bank about $350 million on the deal.
Ms Mahuta says timing the announcement for the same week voting papers go out on the asset sales referendum shows John Key’s Government isn’t listening to New Zealanders.
She says it’s not an investment that will appeal to iwi, who already struggled to see the value in investing in Mighty River Power and Meridian.
"I'd say that Air New Zealand is a lower value proposition that energy generation companies so it's probably going, going just about gone," Ms Mahuta says.
She says the failure of the power company floats to attract so-called mum and dad investors indicates that it will again be foreign buyers who end up owning a big chunk of a national asset.
Copyright © 2013, UMA Broadcasting Ltd
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