Another NZ food producer sold to offshore owners: Australian private equity firm snaps up Mainland Poultry
Friday, 29 May 2026
First it was Tip Top, then Fonterra’s consumer brands and now, Mainland Poultry has been sold to an offshore company.
It seems everyone is wanting to buy into New Zealand's food chain, and one politician says that puts the country in a precarious situation when it comes to food security.
New Zealand’s largest supplier of eggs, Mainland Poultry has been acquired by Sydney-based Pacific Equity Partners Gateway in partnership with Malaysia’s Navis Capital for an undisclosed amount, although the figure is believed to be north of $300 million.
The vertically integrated agribusiness based in Dunedin, which owns and operates animal food manufacturer MainFeeds and Zeagold Foods, supplies almost 40% of New Zealand’s eggs.
Read more:
Fonterra shareholders say ‘yes please’ to proceeds of Mainland sale
Fonterra sells Tip Top to global ice cream giant Froneri for $380m
The sale to Pacific Equity Partners Gateway concluded this week, subject to subject to Overseas Investment Office approval. Chief executive John McKay called the sale an “exciting development” and said it would “support the future development” of the business.
“This marks a new chapter in the history of our business and one that will bring more growth and resilience,” McKay said.
“This new ownership provides a strong base for us to continue to grow New Zealand egg production and invest in new initiatives.”
However, Green Party MP Steve Abel said he was sad to hear Mainland Poultry had become offshore-owned.
He called it concerning, and said a growing number of the country’s largest food brands and producers were now controlled by overseas owners, which should be of concern to everyone.
“It is a matter of national interest,” Abel told The Post.
“We risk seeing even more local food producers and processors going out of New Zealand ownership. The issue with the mills and McCains and Wattie’s most recently are an example of where a foreign or an overseas owner just may not have the same level of interest in New Zealand's food security and food resilience.”
James Randall of PEP Gateway, an experienced poultry investor, said Mainland had a strong market position and was well positioned for future growth, following significant investments in its free range and barn capacity.
The acquisition would see PEP Gateway manage more than $1 billion in funds under management.
Mainland Poultry supplies nationwide and exports to Pacific Islands and Asia.
Navis Capital bought Mainland’s vertically integrated business in 2017 and has grown the company earnings strongly.
Earlier this year Fonterra completed the sale of its major brands, Mainland and Anchor, to French dairy giant Lactalis for $3.85b. The inclusion of Bega licences held by Fonterra's Australian business brought total proceeds for the sale of consumer and associated businesses to $4.22b.
About 88% of the farmer votes cast were in support of the sale to Lactalis, even after NZ First leader Winston Peters urged farmers to vote against the plan to keep the consumer brands in New Zealand ownership.
Abel said the concern of any international ownership of New Zealand assets was the worry that they may not provide the necessary level of investment to run these organisations to the same standards of a local owner.
That, and the fact that profits would be leaving the country.
“Quality is part of it, but there's a broader problem of an expectation of the New Zealand public that we're able to feed ourselves, produce the food that we need to consume, and in a world that faces extreme weather events, it's increasingly important for us to have food resilience, and that relies on us having the ability to produce and process foods ourselves.
“There's also the obvious concern of growers, producers and farmers being beholden to an overseas company that is unlikely to have the same level of community investment or concern as a locally owned one, who has obligations to its local region and is likely to have greater concern for the welfare of the families that it employs and the farmers that it receives product from,” Abel said.
“As a country we have to be thinking about food security and food resilience in regard to loss of New Zealand ownership of companies.
“Long term, this is not good. We need more domestic economic strength, not less.”
Abel has called for an inquiry into the McCain and Wattie’s closures. Frozen food giant McCain is closing its vegetable processing plant in Hastings by January next year. Heinz Wattie’s is closing three factories, in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin.
“I do think we need to be thinking about how we maintain strategic food and fibre production assets in New Zealand ownership and maintain that capability and the value of those assets going to the New Zealand economy,” he said.
“We're facing the loss of McCain and Wattie’s and there's other plants and mills shutting down, and Mainland been sold overseas, and I think we could find ourselves in quite a troubling situation in the next five or 10 years ‒ [if we carry on this way] we would have narrowed our production base to a few big export items like kiwifruit, pine logs and dairy and meat, but if we've lost the ability to value-add here or provide for our own needs in terms of food, then the value of those export dollars are diminished by the fact that we're handing on profits from industry to overseas owners.”