Fisher & Paykel Appliances Offers Three Buildings in Auckland for Sale

Fisher & Paykel Appliances Holdings Ltd., New Zealand’s largest maker of refrigerators, said it is offering three buildings at its Tamaki site in Auckland for sale.

The buildings are being offered individually with vacant possession, Brett Butterworth, vice president of planning, said in an interview. An agreement to sell the properties in a single lot lapsed in April and the company has realigned the boundaries to allow separate sales which may realize more value, he said.

Fisher & Paykel has shifted much of its manufacturing away from New Zealand, and has subsequently sold buildings to release capital and reduce debt. In October last year, it agreed to the NZ$53 million ($39 million) sale and leaseback of its head office and other parts of the Tamaki site to Direct Property Fund.

The three buildings cover 37,304 square meters, the New Zealand Herald newspaper reported on Oct. 2. A fourth development site is also available, it said.

Separately, Fisher & Paykel today said it sold most of its Cleveland site in Queensland, Australia, for A$21.5 million ($21 million) and expects to apply the net proceeds of the transaction to repay debt.

The company will lease back a small portion of the warehouse and office facilities and has relocated from another Brisbane site to Cleveland, it said in a statement sent to the stock exchange.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tracy Withers in Wellington at twithers@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Iain Wilson iwilson2@bloomberg.net.