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Graeme Hart
Current interests
Rank Group
Rank Group is Graeme Hart’s private investment company. It is the 100% owner of Burns Philp and Carter Holt Harvey. Rank had assets of approximately NZ$3 billion in cash after selling the assets of Burns Philp and floating Goodman Fielder in 2004.
In December 2006 he agreed to purchase International Paper’s drinks packaging business Evergreen Packaging for NZ$725 million. In May 2007 he bought Swiss packaging company SIG for NZ$3.2bn. The SIG Division Combibloc is the second largest food and drink carton packaging company in the world after Swedish giant Tetra Laval. In August 2007 Hart completed his US$450m purchase of US paper packaging company Blue Ridge Paper Products of North Carolina which he intends to merge with Evergreen Packaging of Arkansas. These acquisitions make Rank Group the world’s 2nd biggest player in the paper products business.
Hart’s ‘company vehicle’ is a Bombardier BD 700 Global Express corporate jet registered N57LE, owned by Rank Group through Wells Fargo, and operated by Cayman Islands-registered Felham Enterprises.
Burns Philp
Burns Philp and Company Limited was an Australian and New Zealand food manufacturing company dual listed on the ASX and NZX. Hart has been the chairman since September 2004 and a member of the Board of Directors since September 1997. In 2003 Burns Philp performed a A$2.4bn hostile takeover of the much larger food group Goodman Fielder before relisting it through an IPO.
Following the sale of its yeast and spices business to UK firm Associated British Foods, Uncle Toby’s to Nestle for NZ$1.1bn and Bluebird Foods to PepsiCo for NZ$245m the company became largely a cashed up shell.
In December 2006, Hart completed a A$1.6bn takeover of the 42 per cent of Burns Philp he didn’t already own. After the successful takeover Burns Philp was delisted from the ASX and NZX. The deal gave him total control of A$2.9bn of Burns Philp cash, net of debt, which he could then use to further build on his Carter Holt Harvey empire.
Hart sold Burn Philp’s 20% stake in Goodman Fielder for NZ$675.8m in October 2007.
Carter Holt Harvey
In 2006 Hart paid NZ$3.3bn for Carter Holt Harvey (CHH), a New Zealand timber and paper business. Soon after completing the purchase he began restructuring the struggling company starting with the sale of CHH’s forests to US-based Hancock Timber Group for up to NZ$2bn. Hart has also sold CHH’s head office property, various sawmills and packaging plants for over NZ$300m.
In 2007 he announced the sale of CHH’s building supplies business which some estimate could fetch NZ$2.3bn.
Hart’s strategic focus appears to be on the packaging side of CHH.
Early years
Hart’s successful business career has humble originsn his younger days, he worked as a tow-truck driver and as a panel beater after leaving school at 15.
In 1987, Hart completed an MBA from the University of Otago. His research thesis outlines the strategy for Rank, then a small hire company, to evolve into a major corporation.
Hart gained a big break when he purchased the Government Printing Office for less than its capital value in 1990. The following year he bought Whitcoulls Group which at that time included a retail chain of bookstores as well as office and stationery concerns. He has since sold off these interests.
Personal
Graeme Hart has a residence in Auckland, New Zealand. He is married to his wife of 43 years Robyn, and they have 4 children. He attended Mount Roskill Grammar School.
Hart says he lacks interest in making money for its own sake. He describes his personal wealthstimated at NZ$6.1bns a “by-product” of what he does.
While he prefers to keep a low profile in the general media he was notable for the launch of his 58m luxury motor yacht Ulysses at Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour in January 2006. The yacht is valued at nearly $100m and took five years to complete due to being gutted by a fire during refit by a New Orleans shipyard.
In January 2007 Hart rescued three people and a dog from their burning boat off Waiheke Island, near Auckland.
In March 2008, an area of 1000 square meters which included protected native trees was cleared on Hart’s Waiheke Island estate. Following a complaint, authorities investigated and a fine of $300 NZD was issued, which Hart is disputing and has not paid.
References
^ Hart Beats the Aussies,
^ The People Who Shape Our World, The New Zealand Listener September 22-28 2007
^ “NZ’s richest man climbs world’s billionaire’s list”. New Zealand Herald. 12 March 2009. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10561361. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
^ National Business Review 2007 Rich List
^ a b c Goodman stake fetches $676m, The New Zealand Herald 20 October 2007
^ The $4 billion man with a $300 problem The New Zealand Herald 23 March 2008
External links
Carter Holt Harvey website.
Categories: 1955 births | Living people | New Zealand businesspeople | University of Otago alumni | New Zealand billionairesHidden categories: Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2009 | All articles containing potentially dated statements
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