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State-owned Landcorp has bought nearly 1300 hectares of farmland near Feilding after the $45 million receivership of the company that owned the land.
Landcorp was valued at $1.3 billion in the Government's 2010 investment statement, making it the seventh-biggest state-owned enterprise.
ANZ Bank and South Canterbury Finance are the main secured creditors of failed farm business Tawera Land Company.
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Landcorp bought 1270 hectares of high-quality land located near Feilding, owned by Tawera Land, which is in receivership.
The sale was another step in the process of selling the former farming interests of bankrupt businessman Ken Thurston.
The sale attracted bids from about 30 groups, in what was the biggest land-holding sale by one owner in the district.
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Earlier this week, Graeme Hart's Rank Group-controlled Carter Holt Harvey forestry company sold eight farms near Tokoroa out of 29 on offer. The farms had languished on the market since 2009 in the recession that followed the global financial crisis, but the sales were seen as a sign of life in the rural land market.
A Chinese company, the Shanghai Pengxin conglomerate, is in line to buy the 9000-hectare Crafar farm empire from that company's receivers. Landcorp had some interest in the Crafar farms but pulled out after an initial $230m offer from another Chinese company, Natural Dairy, which fell through.
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Meanwhile, Landcorp chief executive Chris Kelly said the corporation planned to invest "significant capital" in the Feilding properties bought from Tawera's receivers. The land was earlier reported to lack fencing and water systems.
In total, secured creditors are owed more than $45m by Tawera. The receivers were acting for ANZ National Bank, owed $29.5m. Another secured creditor, South Canterbury Finance, is chasing almost $14.5m across several Thurston companies, including Tawera.
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Unsecured creditors owed more than $1m were not expected to get any payout.
Receivers have already sold two large blocks from Tawera, near Taumarunui, for about $8.4m. Tawera was put into liquidation by the Inland Revenue Department late last year because of a $530,000 GST bill.
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Source: Business Day