The Overseas Investment Office has cleared a Canterbury dairy processing company with majority Chinese ownership to buy its factory site.
Synlait Milk is the processing arm of the Synlait company at Dunsandel.
It became a joint venture in 2010, when Bright Dairy & Food of China took a 51% shareholding as the processing plant was expanded to manufacture baby formula, mainly for the Chinese market.
Synlait Milk also has a 12% Japanese shareholding . The rest in is New Zealand hands.
The company applied to the OIO to buy the 48 hectare processing site, which it has been leasing.
It says getting long term control of the land will give Synlait security in building its business, with economic benefits for Canterbury and New Zealand.
Bright Dairy is one of the top three dairy companies in China. It has more than 200 farms and processes and distributes dairy products there.
