December 11 2025 | APAC | Deals | Utilities & Infrastructure | Mergers and acquisitions
Energy and natural resources transactions continue to dominate the deal landscape in New Zealand, with hydroelectric and forestry assets changing hands over the past 12 months. Although investors have had to be patient for good opportunities recently, a groundswell is starting to build indicating better times ahead for Kiwi M&A.
According to Mergermarket data, so far in 2025 a total of 133 deals worth $4.9 billion have completed in New Zealand. The tech sector has led the market with $1.6 billion transacted across 25 deals, closely followed by the energy and natural resources sector, where 13 deals worth $1.3 billion were done. Consumer and retail deals have also attracted investors, with 23 deals worth $796 million taking place.
Year-on-year, 2025 is tracking pretty much in line with 2024 in terms of transaction activity, when 174 deals worth $5.8 billion completed. Deals in the energy and natural resources sectors led the market, where $1.7 billion across 18 deals transacted. This was followed by the real estate sector, where $1.4 billion transacted across five deals. The consumer and retail sector saw $974 million transacted across 26 deals.
Across the past two years, the Kiwi market has seen two major deals of note. After the deal was first announced in September 2024, in July 2025 integrated kiwi energy operator Contact Energy finalised its $1.15 billion acquisition of Manawa Energy , with the former seeking to acquire the latter’s hydro-electric assets.
“The combination of Contact and Manawa is an important step for the New Zealand energy transition, providing greater ability to invest in future generation capacity, enhancing market security and ultimately contributing to reducing wholesale prices long-term,” Contact chair Rob McDonald said in a statement.
In another significant transaction, US hedge fund TRG Management bought Kiwi REIT Rayonier New Zealand for $710 million, with the transaction completing in June. Rayonier New Zealand and Rayonier Canterbury own 77% of Matariki Forestry Group, a joint venture that owns or leases approximately 412,000 legal acres of New Zealand timberland.
Foreign buyers circling
Global investors have always shown strong interest in Kiwi assets like energy businesses and farms and that interest has continued in 2025.
According to PwC data , overseas buyers have been represented in just under half (49%) of all deals done this year, with Australian and US investors leading this offshore interest, participating in ten and four deals respectively. The professional services firm’s report notes transaction volumes remain below historic averages, although quality assets are still finding buyers. Conversely, it’s much more difficult to successfully execute deals involving lesser quality entities.
Although the more established Kiwi M&A market remains tepid, the early stage ventures market is more active, with Kiwi venture capital firm NZVC recently announcing it is launching a second fund. The founders say they are backing promising emerging firms working across software-as-a-service, including AI-native automation platforms; automation including robotics and intelligent systems; human enhancement through biotech, health and performance; and geopolitical sovereignty through critical infrastructure and resilience.
While the Kiwi IPO market has been flat for some time, like many other global financial markets, there is one more listing slated on NZX for 2025, Locate Technologies , demonstrating the continuing demand for tech assets.
There’s also a push from the government to support early stage ventures, with New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority (FMA) recently starting its first regulatory sandbox pilot involving six firms. The fintechs that have been a part of the pilot are envisaged to start operating from the sandbox soon.
Overcoming challenges
Broadly, New Zealand's capital market continues to face structural issues, although the country has lots of fine natural features that should support continued economic growth. Its strengths include a stable regulatory environment and a relatively high level of transparency, which attract both domestic and international investors.
However, the market is smaller in scale compared to Australia, limiting liquidity and the range of investment options available, which tends to hold the market back. Nevertheless, the NZ50 has turned in a very attractive 7.23% in 2025, results that should garner the attentions of the big investment firms in the year ahead.
Opportunities for growth lie in the increasing interest in sustainable and green finance, as New Zealand positions itself as a leader in environmental initiatives. Conversely, threats such as global economic fluctuations and competition from larger markets in Asia pose challenges to its capital market development.
Overall, while New Zealand offers a robust framework for investment, its small comparative size and market depth mean there’s an opportunity for the government to consider ways to enhance its competitive edge in the region and lots of potential for the private sector to generate heightened M&A activity.
