Minter Ellison Rudd Watts has advised Helicopters (N.Z.) Limited (HNZ) on its sale to Canadian Helicopters Limited (CHL) for approximately NZ $160 million. HNZ is a private company, owned 100% by South Canterbury Finance Limited (in Receivership) (SCF) and is New Zealand’s largest and most diverse helicopter owner and operator. CHL is the largest helicopter transportation services company operating in Canada.
“We are very pleased with the acquisition of HNZ”, said Don Wall, President and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Helicopters. “HNZ has excellent people and a very strong brand particularly with respect to safe operations, and will be a significant part of CHL’s growth plan as we look to the future.”
Kerryn Downey, Receiver for SCF commented “This announcement is the culmination of a significant amount of work by the company and our advisors. This has been a very robust process and we are very pleased to have identified such a credible purchaser and achieved what we believe is a good price for the business”.
Cathy Quinn, head of Minter Ellison Rudd Watts’ M & A team, commented “We were thrilled with the result of this transaction for CHL. The transaction involved complex issues in New Zealand, Australia, Laos and Cambodia – our team of lawyers in New Zealand and Australia, together with the CHL team and their Canadian advisors, were able to find pragmatic solutions to the issues and agree the transaction documentation under significant time pressure.”
CHL was selected through a competitive sale process that commenced following HNZ’s shareholder, SCF, being placed into receivership in late August 2010. The sale is subject to a number of conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to complete in the coming months.
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