1. Not a single New Zealand dairy farm changed hands in August as overall farm sales fell again, figures released by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) show.
There were 51 farm sales nationwide in the month of August, compared to 146 in August 2008. August sales were 70% below average August sales over the past four years, the same as in July when there were 52 farm sales. There were no dairy farm sales in August, compared to 19 in August last year and 17 in August 2007. The overall total of 51 farm sales was dominated by 29 grazing farm sales, the same as in July, although these have dropped down from 79 sales in August 2008 and 81 in August 2007.
2. An Australian private equity firm has bought the New Zealand arm of fast food chain Burger King.
Sydney-based Anchorage Capital Partners has been in talks with Burger King's local owners, Dennis Jones and Mark Backhaus, for some months. Anchorage officially took over ownership of the 69 company-owned and two-franchised Burger King outlets yesterday.
3. The Australian government is pressuring Telstra into splitting into two separate businesses, leap-frogging New Zealand's May 2006 reforms of Telecom with its own more draconian approach to regulation.
4. More green shoots. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the worst U.S. recession since the 1930s has probably ended. Sales at U.S. retailers surged in August by the most in three years, showing unexpected strength in consumer demand.
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