Gibbston Valley Wines chief executive Greg Hunt, of Wanaka, was asked to comment on the OIO consent for the share acquisition by the winery's major shareholder, American Philip Dean Griffith.
The decision summary, dated March 6, listed Mr Griffith as the owner of 83.99% of Gibbston Valley Wines Ltd, with 8.005% owned by "New Zealand public" and 8.005% by "United States public".
The summary said the applicant, together with his associates, can acquire up to 100% of the shares in Gibbston Valley Wines in consideration of the applicant's ongoing capital contributions and funding of Gibbston Valley Wine's capital works programme.
"The overseas investment transaction has satisfied the criteria in section 16 of the Overseas Investment Act 2005.
The 'substantial and identifiable benefit to New Zealand' criteria were satisfied" by factors including job creation, the decision said.
"Phil was buying more shares in the company and, with the OIO, every time you buy shares as an overseas person, you have to apply for it and it costs a lot of money. So it just makes more sense to do one application where he would be clear to go to 100%, just so he wouldn't have to reapply each time he bought shares. So that's what he did," Mr Hunt said.
"I'm continuing to run the winery and make improvements as we can to make it a better winery."
Mr Griffith still proposes to build a $300 million resort on Gibbston Valley Station, which he also owns. Construction could begin in two years' time, Mr Hunt said.
"It all comes down to what's going on with the economy. It's a big project with big capital outlays and so we don't want to launch that until the timing is absolutely correct."
The resort would boast a "Central Otago-style" 18-hole golf course and a hub of buildings including staff accommodation, an information centre, a health and fitness centre, farmers' market, artisans' workshops and restaurant, with links to the Gibbston Trail network.
