Larry Williams Drive

The Government’s paid $2.1 billion to buy Kiwibank.  For all intents and purposes, this doesn’t really change much. Kiwis own Kiwibank now but Kiwis owned Kiwibank before. We just own it in a different way. Now it’s through the Government directly. Beforehand it was through ACC, the Super Fund and NZ Post which owned it.  But what this has doesn’t is stopped the possibility of selling part of Kiwibank offshore. The Super Fund – one of the previous owners — wanted to bring in big cash from foreign investors. Grant Robertson wouldn’t allow it, so the Super Fund sold its share to the Government. That’s why Kiwibank’s crowing today about being 100 percent Kiwi-owned. Because of the chance that it might not have been. At least not 100 percent.  Opportunity missed. I think Kiwibank could actually benefit from having some foreign investors buying into it.  Set aside your feelings about having a Kiwi-owned bank. The bank doesn’t really work at the moment. It’s just not that good, is it?  Have a look at Kiwibank’s Fac