New Zealand Forest Products (NZFP) was New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

's largest industrial company from its creation (following the consolidation of the New Zealand timbermilling sector) in 1936 until the privatisation of state-owned Telecom New Zealand

Telecom New Zealand

Telecom New Zealand is a New Zealand-wide communications service provider , providing fixed line telephone services, a mobile network, an internet service provider , a major ICT provider to NZ businesses , and a wholesale network infrastructure provider to other NZ CSPs...

 in 1990. Sir David Henry

David Henry (New Zealand)

Sir David Henry, KBE was a Scottish-born New Zealand industrialist, company director, and philanthropist.- Biography :Henry was born at Juniper Green, Midlothian, Scotland...

 KBE was responsible for negotiations on behalf of the Henry Family

Henry Family of New Zealand

The Henry family migrated to New Zealand from Scotland in the 1870s. In New Zealand they played a major role in forestry, industry, law and philanthropy....

 that saw the creation of New Zealand Forest Products.

The company continued to expand following World War II and was a large-scale manufacturer of structural timber, board and other packaging products. Following the construction of the Kinleith Mill

Kinleith Mill

The Kinleith Mill is a Carter Holt Harvey pulp and paper plant located at Kinleith, Tokoroa, New Zealand. The mill is the largest of four pulp and paper mills operated by Carter Holt Harvey...

 at Tokoroa

Tokoroa

Tokoroa is the third-largest town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand and largest settlement in the South Waikato district. Located 30 km southwest of Rotorua, close to the foot of the Mamaku Ranges, it is mid-way between Taupo and Hamilton on State Highway One...

 in 1953, NZFP became a substantial manufacturer of pulp and paper products. The company owned some 250,000 hectares of forestry plantations, with a further 300,000 hectares under long-term Crown leases from the New Zealand Government.

Another member of the family, Jack Henry

Jack Henry (New Zealand)

Jack Ewen Henry was a New Zealand industrialist and company director, and a member of the well-known Henry Family.-Early life:Jack Henry was born in Rotorua New Zealand in June 1917 to John and Edith Henry...

, was the Director of the Kinleith Division and the Forests Division. He pioneered new methods in silviculture which saw the company achieve major efficiency gains that turned NZFP into one of the largest forestry companies globally. He was the last Henry to sit on the board of NZFP retiring in 1986 as corporate raiders circled.

Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, NZFP was the target of several takeover attempts including a joint bid by Goodman Fielder (the Australian/New Zealand flour miller) and Watties Industries (the New Zealand canned food manufacturer) given its strong asset profile. This joint bid failed, but was soon followed by another unsuccessful $1.9 billion bid by Fletcher Challenge

Fletcher Challenge

Fletcher Challenge is a now defunct multinational corporation from New Zealand, formed in 1981 by the merger of Fletcher Holdings, Challenge Corporation and Tasman Pulp and Paper...

 in 1985. NZFP was successful in defending itself against these local corporations, however, in 1986 the company was finally acquired by the Australian conglomerate Elders Resources, a subsidiary of Elders IXL

Elders Limited

Elders Limited is an Australian based agribusiness company.It was founded in 1839 in South Australia by Alexander Lang Elder as a new arm of his family's Scottish based merchant and shipping business. Its core business was a trading company and commission agent for wool and other agricultural...

 (the vehicle of Australian corporate raider, John Elliot

John Elliott (businessman)

John Dorman Elliott is a former president of the Liberal Party, and former president of Carlton Football Club. In 2003 he was found guilty of trading while insolvent and in 2005 declared bankrupt...

). Elliot mounted a successful hostile takeover that valued the company at $3.0 billion and the company became known post-acquisition as Elders NZFP Corporation.

Following a bitter battle over the bid, the Henry family agreed to sell to the Australian raider and this effectively ended the Henry family's 110 years of involvement in New Zealand industry.

The assets of NZFP continue to operate to this day. Following the collapse of Elders NZFP in 1988 following the stockmarket crash, the assets were purchased by Carter Holt Harvey

Carter Holt Harvey

Carter Holt Harvey Limited is an Australasian forest products company, with significant interests in wood products, pulp, paper and packaging. The company employs approximately 10,500 people across Australasia. Carter Holt Harvey's head New Zealand office is located at 173 Captain Springs Road in...

 (CHH), another smaller New Zealand forestry company. The purchase of the NZFP assets tripled the size of CHH and boosted its revenues by 60% to top NZ$7.0 billion, then a record for any New Zealand company.

See also

• Forestry in New Zealand
  Forestry in New Zealand
  Forestry in New Zealand has a history starting with European settlement in the 19th century and is now an industry worth four percent of GDP. Much of the original native forest cover was burnt off but it was also logged until 2000. Extensive forests have been planted, predominantly with fast...
  
  
• Project Crimson
  Project Crimson
  Project Crimson is a conservation initiative to promote the protection of the pohutukawa and the rata which are under threat due to browsing by the introduced Common Brushtail Possum...
  
  , a conservation programme set up and initially sponsored by New Zealand Forest Products