Canterbury rich lister buys factory site
Simon Henry has bought a large industrial property in Hornby, Christchurch, for a chemicals storage and distribution business.
Henry, with an estimated wealth of $200 million, has bought the site for redevelopment at 102 Shands Rd from the Nelson Diocese. It is occupied by Fletcher Building-owned Tasman Insulation.
It is intending to move to a new purpose-built facility with another Fletcher business, Laminex, in the Hornby Quadrant, a large industrial business park, Colliers International said.
Henry’s Ra¯ paki Property Group has been growing steadily over the years. In mid-2018, Henry brought Australia’s largest dangerous chemicals company, DG Logistics.
Born and raised in Rangiora, Canterbury, the one-time beekeeper made his first headlines buying Christchurch commercial properties after the 1987 share market crash.
He later moved to Auckland where he bought more properties, as well as Chempro, a manufacturer and distributor of chemicals.
From July 1, Ra¯ paki Property, Chempro, Hydromet, DGL Logistics, and Hardman Chemicals businesses would be re-branded under the common umbrella of DGL, Colliers said.
DGL had a turnover last year of A$125m (NZ$134m), employed more than 250 staff and moved more than one million metric tonnes of chemicals a year, Colliers said.
Henry said DGL’s recent business acquisitions and focus on gaining market share had resulted in a need for more space. The Shands Rd property would enable DGL to keep growing in a great location.
Henry is well-known in Christchurch for developing the IRD building, which was sold to government agency Cera post the 2011 earthquakes.
There was a lot of resilience in the industrial sector and the owner-occupier market was stronger than ever, Colliers agent Sam Staite, who brokered the sale to Henry, said.
‘‘The commercial property market has not seen a mass recalibration of pricing postlockdown.
‘‘Despite some large corporates using Covid-19 as an excuse to restructure, thus putting pressure on the unemployment rate, it appears the New Zealand economy is continuing to perform at a high level.
‘‘Agribusiness and industrial are widely expected to pull the country through these uncertain times.’’
Colliers was finding more businesses wanted to own their own premises rather than lease them because of low interest rate costs.
In the first half of last month it had negotiated four sales ranging in price from $560,000 to $4.1m, Staite said.