Ports of Auckland and Tauranga end talks

I know that this is now old news, but Ports of Tauranga and Auckland have decided not to merge.

From the Herald

ARH chairwoman Judith Bassett said the board had decided not to support Tauranga's merger proposal, otherwise known as "Project Mako".

"With the aid of independent advice and having regard to our statutory obligations we have resolved not to support the merger of Ports of Auckland and Port of Tauranga," she wrote in a letter to Port of Tauranga chairman John Parker.

Deputy chairwoman Joce Jesson said: "The merger doesn't align with ARH's long-term strategic investment approach for both this equity investment and ARH's total $1.4 billion investment portfolio."

The risks "outweighed any identified possible benefits in relation to ARH's long-term strategic approach for the company", she said.

It would seem to the untrained eye that Auckland Regional Holdings (owned by the ARC) became the sticking point. This is hardly a surprise and one of my key questions at the beginning was “Practically how do a listed company, and a delisted company (owed by councils) effectively merge?”

Way to hard!

On another note a collegue and myself went on the Port of Auckland tour a couple of weeks ago and the cellphone pictures attached prove it. A nice sunny day in the middle of winter, a ferry ferry ride around the ports. It’s a hard life, but I would recommend the tour.