Carnahan steps down after 12 years at helm of Invest South

Invest South chairman Peter Carnahan is stepping down from the role after 12 years overseeing the company’s investment in budding Southland businesses.

The Queenstown-based Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand fellow, director and businessman relinquished his seat yesterday. ‘‘Normally, it’s a six-year term but I ended up staying so long because no-one suggested I shouldn’t.’’

However, he was leaving now with the satisfaction the company would continue to do what it set out to do, which was ‘‘to keep companies and jobs in Southland, and keep the returns coming back to Southland’’.

Carnahan played a leading role in steering the company’s private equity fund into investing in private companies whose capital was not publicly listed, to grow their business.

Invest South has equity interests in the fishing, gold mining, freight and logistics, apiculture, technology and tourism sectors.

Carnahan said the company was looking for new investments in local businesses at a pivotal time for the region. ‘‘There are lots of businesses looking to transition ... we can help these sorts of companies so they don’t get sold or that we lose them in the region, or see them swallowed up by another company.’’

This was crucial in building Southland’s regional economy, and the creation of ‘‘dynamic and resilient Southland businesses that support the region’s future’’.

It had ‘‘been a privilege to be at the helm of Invest South’’, and working with a highly-skilled team devoted to a successful future for the region, he said.