A company believed to be connected with millionaire record producer Mutt Lange, the former husband of singer Shania Twain, has been cleared to buy Coronet Peak Station, near Queenstown.
Soho Property Ltd hoped to conclude the deal "in the not too distant future", after entering into the agreement last year, lawyer Willy Sussman, of Bell Gully, in Auckland, said yesterday.
The agreement involved the leasehold interest in the 22,200ha station. The company also owned leasehold interests in Motatapu Station (24,731ha), Mt Soho Station (7900ha) and Glencoe Station (8579ha) near Wanaka).
Twain and Lange bought Motatapu and Mt Soho for a reported $21.5 million in 2004.
Consent had been granted to Soho Property to acquire Coronet Peak Station pastoral lease, Land Information New Zealand spokeswoman Victoria Dew, of Wellington, said yesterday.
"The consent was granted on June 29 as ministers were satisfied the criteria in section 16 of the Overseas Investment Act 2005 was met," she said.
Mr Sussman said Soho Property intended to replicate the high level of environmental improvement and management it applied to its other land interests.
Asked why the company was going to the time, trouble and expense, Mr Sussman said it was due to "a strong sense of the importance of the land to New Zealand, a strong culture of sustainable farming and a requirement imposed by the Overseas Investment Office".
Stacey Smith, of the United States, and Thomas Stienmann, of Switzerland, are listed as directors of Soho Property.
