New Zealand’s top-performing private equity firm gets $2.9bn payout after debt crisis
NEW ZEALAND – The New Zealand Private Equity Company (NZPEC) was granted a $2 billion $2bn payout on Thursday, as part of the country’s debt crisis.
The company was found to have defaulted on the $10.8bn of debt, and was forced to seek funding from the Government through its corporate bonds and through the sale of assets, the New Zealand Securities Authority said in a statement.NZPec said in the statement that it would work with the government to address the financial challenges facing the company, which it called a “global leader in the private equity industry.”
The payout is one of three payments made by the New South Wales Government on Thursday.
The Government also announced it had secured $2m in funding from a $1.2bn loan from the National Infrastructure Commission.NZ Prime Minister John Key has said that he will make a decision on whether to go ahead with a $7.5bn capital expenditure plan in the next couple of weeks.
Key said he would also consider a range of options to make up the shortfall in his plan to fund the capital expenditure, which he said would be “more substantial” than the $2billion payment.
The cash infusion comes after the Government secured a $5.9 billion loan from Citigroup, the world’s largest private equity investor.
Key has said he expects to announce more details about the plan to be released within days.
The announcement came just hours after New Zealand was rocked by a devastating wave of earthquakes that killed nearly 300 people and triggered a tsunami.
