Downer EDI buys Hawkins businesses

At Facebook:

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Downer EDI – Media Release
Downer acquires Hawkins businesses in New Zealand

08/03/2017
Downer EDI Limited (Downer) announced today that it had signed an agreement to acquire the construction, infrastructure and project management businesses of Hawkins, a New Zealand company, from the McConnell Family.
The Chief Executive of Downer, Grant Fenn, said Hawkins was an excellent strategic fit for Downer’s New Zealand business.
“Downer has a long and proud history in New Zealand that can be traced back more than a century,” Mr Fenn said. “Today we are a leading provider of services to our customers in a range of markets including transport, telecommunications and water.
“Hawkins is a New Zealand industry leader in construction and infrastructure and this acquisition will complement our existing Engineering, Construction and Maintenance capabilities while also providing a platform for growth. It is estimated that over NZ$50 billion will be invested in non-residential construction in New Zealand over the next five years.”
Mr Fenn said Hawkins would continue to operate under its current brand.
“Hawkins was founded in New Zealand 70 years ago and its highly skilled management team has built a strong reputation for delivering quality projects for its customers in both the public and private sectors,” he said.
Hawkins has a number of high profile projects across its portfolio including the SH16 Lincoln to Westgate upgrade, the construction of Auckland’s Park Hyatt Hotel, the Pier B Extension at Auckland Airport, Wellington Airport’s Rongotai Control Tower, Wellington City Council’s Arlington Housing Project, the Christchurch Town Hall, and the Avon River Precinct (Christchurch).
Mr Fenn said the acquisition would be funded through existing debt facilities and be earnings accretive in its first year.
The transaction is due to be completed on 31 March.

[ends] Downer EDI Link

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Hawkins – Media Release
Hawkins Ownership to Change

8th March 2017

Hawkins is pleased to announce that Downer is acquiring Hawkins’ construction, infrastructure and project management businesses from the McConnell Family. This offers a new era of opportunity for both organisations. Hawkins Construction will retain its brand and continue as an ongoing business. Hawkins Infrastructure, which complements Downer, will be integrated into its existing Infrastructure business. Together we look forward to continuing our proud New Zealand heritage of building better communities, with passionate people and great projects. Link

[Hawkins full announcement]

DOW / Announcements
Downer acquires Hawkins business in New Zealand
8:39am, 8 Mar 2017 | ASSET

8 March 2017
DOWNER ACQUIRES HAWKINS BUSINESSES IN NEW ZEALAND
Downer EDI Limited (Downer) announced today that it had signed an agreement to acquire the construction, infrastructure and project management businesses of Hawkins, a New Zealand company, from the McConnell Family.
The Chief Executive of Downer, Grant Fenn, said Hawkins was an excellent strategic fit for Downer’s New Zealand business.
“Downer has a long and proud history in New Zealand that can be traced back more than a century,” Mr Fenn said. “Today we are a leading provider of services to our customers in a range of markets including transport, telecommunications and water.
“Hawkins is a New Zealand industry leader in construction and infrastructure and this acquisition will complement our existing Engineering, Construction and Maintenance capabilities while also providing a platform for growth. It is estimated that over NZ$50 billion will be invested in non-residential construction in New Zealand over the next five years.”
Mr Fenn said Hawkins would continue to operate under its current brand.
“Hawkins was founded in New Zealand 70 years ago and its highly skilled management team has built a strong reputation for delivering quality projects for its customers in both the public and private sectors,” he said.
Hawkins has a number of high profile projects across its portfolio including the SH16 Lincoln to Westgate upgrade, the construction of Auckland’s Park Hyatt Hotel, the Pier B Extension at Auckland Airport, Wellington Airport’s Rongotai Control Tower, Wellington City Council’s Arlington Housing Project, the Christchurch Town Hall, and the Avon River Precinct (Christchurch).
Mr Fenn said the acquisition would be funded through existing debt facilities and be earnings accretive in its first year.
The transaction is due to be completed on 31 March.

For further information please contact:
Michael Sharp, Group Head of Corporate Affairs and Investor Relations +61 439 470 145

About Downer
Downer EDI Limited (Downer) is a leading provider of services to customers in markets including: Transport Services; Rail; Mining; Utilities Services; Technology and Communications Services; and Engineering, Construction & Maintenance. We build strong relationships of trust with our customers, truly understanding and predicting their needs and bringing them world leading insights and solutions. Downer employs about 19,000 people across more than 200 sites and projects, mostly in Australia and New Zealand, but also in the Asia-Pacific region, South America and Southern Africa. For more on Downer, visit: http://www.downergroup.com.

About Hawkins
Hawkins was established in Hamilton in 1946 by Fred Hawkins and has steadily grown over seven decades to become a leader in New Zealand’s infrastructure and project delivery. Hawkins employs about 700 people and specialises in the design and construction delivery of buildings and infrastructure that create stronger communities across New Zealand and also the Asia Pacific. For more information on Hawkins, visit http://www.hawkins.co.nz

Attachments
Downer acquires Hawkins business in New Zealand (PDF)

[ends] Hawkins Link

Ratbags for your avoidance #elections

█ Placement! Who is paying for online ads at Whaleoil, none other than the plodding lesser Stains of Dunedin.

There’s ultra-supreme love for the whole wordy splash:

### whaleoil.co.nz September 3, 2016 at 7:30am
New Zealand’s Dodgiest Local Government Politician Awards
By Cameron Slater
With two weeks until the local government voting papers are mailed out it is time to kick off our dodgiest local government politician competition again.
Who are the rooters, boozers, money wasters, drink drivers and assorted criminals who think they should stick their nose in the public trough?
Who are the incumbent candidates who are so useless that they couldn’t get a job in the real world and only stay standing because they need the money?
Who are the people with appalling records in business or with public money who want to get their hands on more public money?
If you want to nominate a ratbag for the competition please email the tipline.
We already have some nominees, and we are working on a boozy mayoral candidate who made an arse of himself in Japan, and a boozer and a rooter who played away in Hong Kong.
Whaleoil Link

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Mayoral redundancy – His Delta Noble-ness of Yelledhearse

Exhibit A | The Star 1.9.16 (page 4)

Exhibits B and C | ODT 3.9.16 (page 2)

Exhibit D | Did someone mention flood, honestly ?

First line/pledge "no more flooded homes"

One of the greatest acts of political vandalism i've ever seen #Dunedin pic.twitter.com/cOuwjp6Mza

— Paul Le Comte (@five15design) September 3, 2016

█ How are we feeling now ? edified ? gutted by lack of real choice ?
Then, in came someone new called …….

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

NZ Banks creaming it overnight ?

Received from Gurglars
23/05/2016 4:13 am (GMT+12:00)

Subject: Banks Theft

I have sent this letter to my bank.
This type of arrogant theft by banks must be exposed and stopped! The stock exchange has recently shortened settlement days from 3 to 2 for this very reason! In some cases over the weekend banks can make 50% on overnight money markets, so they use YOUR and MY money to make huge profits whilst charging us interest on outstanding debts that could be amortised.

A sum of $***** was deposited to my account Saturday. At the latest it should be in my account Monday morning! Given the nature of internet transactions, the keeping of MY money for two days is in fact an act of theft. The monies have left the sender’s account and not been lodged in my account and therefore the bank has claimed some ownership of the money for two days when the bank is trading. This “theft” which could be presumed legal when banks had to have time to clear funds is no longer a “legal” action!

[ends]

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My quick reply:

Excellent point. Yes they reap at our cost, bare-faced. Some banks over others have difficulty moving to processing 24/7…. more ‘instantaneously’. From discussion with colleagues, it appears ANZ has recently moved to “next morning” (including paying in on Saturdays) for deposits made after 10pm on Friday nights —which previously had a dogged (clip-ticket) wait until “after 10pm Monday” for transaction. Some shift has occurred(?).
Consumers need to stack on the pressure.
The Banking Ombudsman needs to investigate – the public should send letters their way.

New Zealand’s Banking Ombudsman Scheme
The Banking Ombudsman Scheme investigates and resolves disputes between customers and their banks. We are independent of scheme participants, customers, and government. Our service is free of charge and easy to use.
https://bankomb.org.nz/

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### radionz.co.nz Tue 24 May 2016 7:00 am today
Morning Report with Guyon Espiner & Susie Ferguson
Reserve Bank keeping an eye on digital disruption on banking
The Reserve Bank is monitoring the impact of digital disruption on the banking sector, as a rapidly increasing number of unregulated players have the potential to undermine the existing financial system.
Audio | Download: Ogg  MP3 (2′07″)

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

[glasbergen.com]

RNZ in Absolutely Great Form [broadsheet carks it, who? where?]

SAMPLE

### RNZ National about 1 hour ago
Toby & Toby on …. The newspaper apocalypse and Sonny Bill Williams’ incredible new look
OPINION: Toby Manhire & Toby Morris

Pardon?
“Newspaper apocalypse” is hyperbolic tabloidese, granted, but there’s a grain of truth there. In the UK, the final Independent newspaper was printed a few days ago, and the title now exists online only, with a much smaller, and less well paid, reporting staff. Hundreds of newspapers around the world have similarly folded, and many more are staring down the barrel, all since the Great Change.

The Great Change? Is this the bit about Sonny Bill Williams’ incredible new look?
No. That was shameless and misleading clickbait. Sorry.
Read more

█ A CIRCUMSPECT(ish) weekly column published every Wednesday, by graphic artist Toby Morris and journalist Toby Manhire. CLEVER RNZ, WOOP !!!

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Related Post and Comments:
20.3.16 RNZ: ‘Is the ODT going OTT?’ #paywall

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

RNZ: ‘Is the ODT going OTT?’ #paywall

Mediawatch: ‘The ODT not exactly over-selling the “exciting relaunch” of its website in last Tuesday’s paper.’ –ODT 15.3.16 (bottom, page 3)

### radionz.co.nz Sun, 20 Mar 2016 at 2:40 pm
RNZ National – Mediawatch
Will NZ’s biggest paywall plan yet pay off?
By Colin Peacock
New Zealand’s biggest locally-owned news publisher is set to make readers pay for its online news. Mediawatch asks the editor of the Otago Daily Times if it will pay off, and what the paying punters will get in return.
Audio | Download: Ogg MP3 (11′34″)

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[excerpts from Mediawatch article]

The two big news publishers in this country – Fairfax Media and NZME – still give away their best stuff for free online.

….this week the biggest publisher outside of the two main companies announced time will soon be up for its free-loading readers. Dunedin-based Allied Press told The NBR (ironically in an article behind the NBR’s paywall) Otago Daily Times had been “giving away our content free for long enough.” Fighting talk. The publication’s paywall plan is a bold move by a paper which does not often chop or change. Its design is conservative and it carries some distinctly old-fashioned local content. […] From next month, a digital ODT subscription will cost $27 a month – the same as a print subscription. Subscribers of the paper will get online access for nothing. […] But readers leaving comments on the ODT site weren’t supportive. One said he thought it was a joke: “I’m guessing the paywall starts on the 1st of April?”
….Writing for The Spinoff website, [former NZ Herald editor-in-chief] Tim Murphy said because subscribers to the paper also had digital access, a big chunk of the total audience might stick loyally with the website too. But Mr Murphy added: “It will need to have content that you can’t get anywhere else, in a voice and character and feel that you want to support because it is ‘your ODT’.”
Full Article

!!! ……yesterday

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█ http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch
Mediawatch looks critically at the New Zealand media – television, radio, newspapers and magazines as well as the ‘new’ electronic media. It also examines the performance of the agencies, corporations and institutions that regulate them. It looks into the impact the media has on the nation, highlighting good practice as well as bad along the way – and it also enquires into overseas trends and technological developments which New Zealanders need to know about. It aims to enlighten everyone with an interest in the media about how it all works, how quickly things are changing – and how certain significant stories and issues are being covered. It’s also intended to be essential listening for those who work in the industry itself – as well as those who simply enjoy well-produced and lively radio.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: fresh.co.nz + alliedpress.co.nz – tweaked by whatifdunedin

Local airport, compare #CHC or #ZQN

Grey skies….

### ODT Online Wed, 6 Jan 2016
‘Long run-up’ to win flights
By David Loughrey
….[Dunedin airport] management continues to try to add transtasman cities to the list of destinations available to passengers. While numbers were down slightly in the 2014-15 year, airport chief executive Richard Roberts said April 2015 was the busiest on record, with just over 78,000 passengers in and out.
Read more

█ Dunedin International Airport, colloquially known as Momona Airport, is an international airport in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand, serving Dunedin city and the Otago and Southland regions. Wikipedia

Airport type: Public
Owner: Dunedin City Council and the New Zealand Government (The Crown)
Operator: Dunedin International Airport Limited
Location: 25 Miller Road, Momona, Dunedin 9073
Elevation AMSL: 1.20 m / 4 ft
Coordinates: 45°55′41″S 170°11′54″E
Code: DUD

█ Website: dunedinairport.co.nz

DCC Webmap | Dunedin International Airport, 25 Miller Rd, Momona

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### ODT Online Wed, 6 Jan 2016
Migrants flock to the Otago region
By Vaughan Elder
Statistics New Zealand data showed over the two years to November last year there was a net gain of 2812 migrants in Otago. Of the 2812, by far the largest gains were in Queenstown Lakes district (1189) and Dunedin (1156), followed by Waitaki (204), Central Otago (162), and Clutha (101).
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image (top): wikimedia.org – Dunedin Airport terminal

Veggie Boys blames resource consent

“Everybody says there’s a great economic boom. There isn’t in Dunedin, and we’ve got to tighten our belt.” -Marty Hay

### ODT Online Mon, 7 Jul 2014
Consent process blamed for veg store closure
By Shawn McAvinue
A costly consent hearing is being blamed for Veggie Boys’ Mosgiel store withering economically and it will close at the end of the month. Veggie Boys’ co-owner Marty Hay said the Bush Rd store was not economically viable and management had decided to ‘‘pull the pin”. The outlet had been open nearly two years but three months after opening, business became difficult when the owners were required to obtain a consent for it to operate, he said.
Read more

█ Notified decision (2.5.13): LUC-2012-563 58 Ayr St, Mosgiel – Letter of decision. ● Note: Notified decision LUC-2012-563 removed from DCC online listings at http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/services/planning/browse-notified-decisions.

█ Non-notified decision (14.1.14): “58 Ayr Street Mosgiel (LUC-2012-563/A) – This consent was an application to/for s127 change or cancellation of conditions at 58 Ayr Street Mosgiel. This was considered by the Council’s Senior Planner (Consents) on 14 January 2014.” Go to (currently at page 2) http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/services/planning/browse-non-notified-decisions ● Note: DCC failed to consult the original 11 submitters on LUC-2012-563 before granting this decision.

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Related Posts and Comments:
2.4.13 Dunedin: Developers stoop to resource consents instead of private plan change applications
9.1.13 Fresh veggies, a holiday mystery

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Christchurch: HOTELS with Chinese investment pending

A major Chinese construction company is eyeing joint-venture prospects in Christchurch.

### stuff.co.nz Last updated 11:33 12/04/2013
Chinese ‘very interested’ in key Christchurch project
By Lois Cairns – The Press
Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker, who is in China visiting Christchurch’s sister cities, met representatives from Beijing-based company Huadu Construction this week and says they are interested in being part of a major development planned for Christchurch.

Parker said he could not reveal details of the development at this stage as negotiations were still under way, but it would be a significant project for the city.

Earthquake-recovery officials have been overseas previously seeking expressions of interest in key projects for Christchurch’s rebuild, including the new convention centre.

Asked about the possible scale of investment, Key said “the sky’s the limit” for some of the groups they were in talks with, some of which were experienced in PPP investment.

Prime Minister John Key said the business delegation he was leading in China this week had met groups interested in investing in construction, such as building hotels, where New Zealand had long accepted foreign investment. Christchurch could form part of these discussions.
Read more

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Anonymous provided this link…

Starplus Homes staff ‘in the dark’
Some Hamilton tradespeople and contractors are understood to be owed hundreds of thousands of dollars by Chinese building company Starplus Homes. Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Images: PrimeTV News 12.4.13 [screenshots]

Yes! Westpac Stadium sorts the cheese

### ODT Online Sat, 29 May 2010
Wellington ready for stadium challenge
By Chris Morris
The chairman of the trust running Wellington’s Westpac Stadium is ready for competition with Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin. Wellington Regional Stadium Trust chairman Paul Collins was responding to comments this week by David Davies, the man tasked with making a success of Dunedin’s roofed venue, who this week predicted “aggressive” competition between the venues.

A Berl report released earlier this month found the venue [Westpac Stadium] had generated $484 million for the Wellington economy, more than double original forecasts.

Read more

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

Ratepayers! Prepare to subsidise this to glory. Oh, we are, already.

### ODT Online Tue, 25 May 2010
Competition for stadium
By Chris Morris
A price war is looming between Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium and its rivals in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. And it is a challenge acknowledged by Dunedin Venues Management Ltd chief executive David Davies, who yesterday said cut-rate deals and other initiatives would be considered to lure events to the city.
Read more

Post by Elizabeth Kerr