American and Australian businesses have been granted consent to buy the rights to operate Auckland's Vector Arena and are promising to increase the number of shows there.
The Overseas Investment Office approved a deal for America's Live Nation and Australia's MHC Investments to buy all the shares of EVENZ, which owns and controls a leasehold interest in the 2.3 hectares of Auckland waterfront land where Vector stands.
New Zealander Stuart Michael Clumpas is the vendor.
"Vector Arena was constructed and is operated under a development agreement with Regional Facilities Auckland.
"Vector Arena must be transferred back to Auckland Council after 40 years," the decision said.
"The applicants are acquiring Vector Arena as part of an Australasian expansion strategy and plan to leverage their position in the live music industry to increase the frequency and scale of shows at Vector Arena.
"The applicants consider that owning Vector Arena will make bringing previously marginal/uneconomic shows to New Zealand possible." MHC Investments is owned by Michael and Michelle Coppel.
"Michael Coppel is a prominent Australasian concert promoter," the office said.
The amount involved in the transaction has been kept secret.
In other decisions, British, Irish and Scandinavian interests got consent to buy 501ha of Southern Canterbury farmland for a secret sum.
Consent was given for the sale of 301ha at 339 Pareora River Rd and a further 200ha at 557 Pareora River Rd to Craigmore Farming NZ Ltd Partnership, half-owned by United Kingdom and Irish interests and 24 per cent owned by Continental European and Scandinavian interests. Pareora is south of Timaru and north of Waimate.
Vendors Pareora Dairy and Somerset Dairy are 84 per cent owned by Forbes Herbert Elworthy.
Southern Pastures - 58 per cent Sweden and 22 per cent Luxembourg - obtained consent to buy 306ha of farmland at Rakaia Terrace Rd at Hororata, Canterbury. Vendors are the Kiwi-owned SR and RC Inch Family Trust. The amount of money involved was also withheld under the Official Information Act.