Marsden Maritime sells surplus 41.5ha site for $4M

Marsden Maritime sells surplus 41.5ha site for $4M, completing land

By Jonathan Underhill

Oct. 30 (BusinessDesk) - Marsden Maritime Holdings, which owns half of the Marsden Point-based Northport, has sold a net 41.5-hectare block of industrially zoned farmland for $4 million after a deal that allowed it to consolidate its land holdings.

The company said the block was sold to a major New Zealand-based timber importer and processor. The sale follows Marsden Maritime's announcement in April that it had acquired a 55ha block of industrially zoned farmland at Marsden Point that bordered three adjacent company-owned properties. At the time, it said the fragmented nature of its landholdings had been an impediment to planning for long-term developments.

It immediately began marketing a 44ha parcel of land that was furthest from the port and deemed of lowest strategic value. The sale of 41.5ha is after deduction of land needed for a new roadway, it said.

"This will enhance access to our other landholdings, a critical step in unlocking development potential," said chief executive Graham Wallace.

The transactions have left Marsden Maritime with land "sufficient to cater for the long-term development of both Marsden Maritime Holdings and Northport," he said when the original purchase was announced in April.

Its shares fell 0.4 percent to $5.60 and have surged 62 percent this year.

Marsden and Port of Tauranga each own 50 percent of Northport, and Marsden also owns 100 percent of Marsden Cove and Marina. The company itself is about 54 percent owned by Northland Regional Council and 19.9 percent by Ports of Auckland.

(BusinessDesk)

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