Fletcher Construction sale given the green light by watchdogs

Monday, 20 April 2026

Fletcher Building is seeing early signs of success in pivoting to being a building products manufacturing and distributing entity, as it works to overcome a turbulent few years.

The Overseas Investment Office has approved the sale of Fletcher Construction to Vinci Construction, and the Commerce Commission has also waved the transaction through, Fletcher Building told the NZX this morning.

In January, the local construction giant announced it had entered into a binding agreement to sell its construction division to French multinational Vinci Construction for at least $315.6 million.

The price could increase by up to $18.5m, totalling $334.1m, depending on the outcome of negotiations.

The deal would see Fletcher Construction Holdings and its three New Zealand business units - Higgins, Brian Perry Civil, and Fletcher Construction Major Projects, sold, while Fletcher Building retained responsibility for legacy 'vertical' projects, including Auckland’s International Convention Centre (NZICC).

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Some 2300 employees would become employees of Vinci Construction under the deal. Vinci Construction is part of the global behemoth Vinci Group, a French multinational with revenues of over NZ$57 billion annually. Vinci has been in New Zealand since 2015, when it bought HEB Construction in 2015, and will be one of the country’s largest infrastructure players when it acquires Fletcher Construction.

However, despite passing the OIA and ComCom hurdles, completion still remained subject to certain counterparty consents and restructuring conditions, Fletcher Building said this morning. The deal was now expected to occur by the end of the 2025/26 financial year.

Fletcher Building has had a few very rough years and last year formulated a new strategy that would see it focus on building products manufacturing and distributing, and building a strong balance sheet and disciplined capital allocation.

Last week, Fletcher released key product sales volumes for the March quarter of the 2026 financial year, which showed volumes had improved - but with the caveat that the quarter largely preceded the escalation of the Middle East conflict.

Earlier again, Fletcher reported a “steady” performance in its half year results, and announced a net profit of $45 million, its first since June 2023.

Despite sounding a warning about supply chain risks and cost escalation because of the Iran war, the positive momentum was enough to see Fletcher Building shares upgraded to outperform from neutral by investment firm Forsyth Barr.