The Malaysian family which owns a NZD 50 million (USD 43.8 million, EUR 32.1 million) majority stake in New Zealand King Salmon has restructured the ownership of its salmon farms to its New Zealand-based Oregon Group, which last year reported a profit of NZD 90.1 million (USD 78.9 million, EUR 57.8 million).
The Tiong family, whose patriarch Hiew King Tiong was estimated by Forbes magazine last March to have a net worth of USD 1.8 billion (EUR 1.6 billion), based on media, palm oil and timber interests, has owned the company for years. But an Overseas Investment Office decision said it had shifted the ownership back to New Zealand-based Oregon Group, from another Malaysia-based company, in a proposal to restructure its salmon farming interests.
Oregon Group is the parent of one of New Zealand's largest forestry companies Ernslaw One, which owns about 100,000 hectares of forest estate planted mainly in radiata pine and douglas fir.
