Graeme Hart

Graeme Richard Hart (born 1955) is a New Zealand billionaire businessman and the country's wealthiest person.

He prefers to stay out of the media and makes few public appearances.

As of March 2022, his net worth was estimated at US$9.7 billion.

Much like other leveraged buyout (LBO) private equity investors, Hart has a preference for buying underperforming and undervalued companies with steady cash flows which can be turned around through better cash management, cost-cutting and restructuring with other businesses.

In 1987, Hart completed an MBA from the University of Otago.

His research thesis, as part of the MBA, outlined his strategy to grow Rank Group Limited, at the time a small "party hire" company servicing the greater Auckland area by integrating multiple acquired companies.

Hart gained a big break when he purchased the Government Printing Office for less than its capital value in 1990.

The purchase was 1.4x earnings and Hart was provided generous payment terms.

Then New Zealand Prime Minister David Lange initially refused to sign off on the transaction.

The following year he bought Whitcoulls Group which at that time included a retail chain of bookstores as well as office and stationery concerns.

He has since sold off these interests.

Rank Group Ltd is Hart's private investment company.

It is the 100% owner of Reynolds Consumer Products, Burns Philp and Carter Holt Harvey.

In 2003 Burns Philp performed a A$2.4 billion hostile takeover of the much larger food group Goodman Fielder before relisting it through an IPO.

Following the sale of its yeast and spices business to UK firm Associated British Foods, Uncle Toby's to Nestle for NZ$1.1 billion and Bluebird Foods to PepsiCo for NZ$245 million the company became largely a cashed up shell.

Rank had assets of approximately NZ$3 billion in cash after selling the assets of Burns Philp and floating Goodman Fielder in 2004.

Hart has been the chairman since September 2004 and a member of the board of directors since September 1997.

Since his 2006 purchase of Carter Holt Harvey he has focused his acquisitions on the paper packaging sector.

In December 2006 he agreed to purchase International Paper's drinks packaging business Evergreen Packaging for NZ$725 million.

In December 2006, Hart completed a AU$1.6 billion takeover of the 42 per cent of Burns Philp he did not already own.

After the successful takeover Burns Philp was delisted from the ASX and NZX.

The deal gave him total control of A$2.9 billion of Burns Philp cash, net of debt, which he could then use to further build on his Carter Holt Harvey empire.

In 2006 Hart paid NZ$3.3 billion for Carter Holt Harvey (CHH), a New Zealand timber and paper business.

Soon after completing the purchase he began restructuring the struggling company starting with the sale of CHH's forests to US-based Hancock Timber Group for up to NZ$2 billion.

Hart has also sold CHH's head office property, various sawmills and packaging plants for over NZ$300 million.

In May 2007 he bought Swiss packaging company SIG for NZ$3.2 billion.

The SIG division Combibloc is the second largest food and drink carton packaging company in the world after Swedish giant Tetra Laval.

In August 2007 Hart completed his US$450 million purchase of US paper packaging company Blue Ridge Paper Products of North Carolina which he intends to merge with Evergreen Packaging of Arkansas.

These acquisitions make Rank Group the world's second biggest company in the paper products business.

Hart sold Burn Philp's 20% stake in Goodman Fielder for NZ$675.8 million in October 2007.

In 2007 he announced the sale of CHH's building supplies business which some estimate could fetch NZ$2.3bn, but was unsuccessful in the selling of it.

His largest acquisition to-date was for Alcoa's Packaging & Consumer group in 2008 for US$2.7bn, later renamed Reynolds Packaging Group.

He does not directly manage his businesses, and is focused mostly on the financing related to re-capitalization of the companies.

Forbes stated that Hart was the 274th richest person in the world as of March 2022.

In 2022, Hart was inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame.

Hart worked as a tow-truck driver and as a panel beater after leaving school at 16.

He attended Mount Roskill Grammar School, located in the central suburbs of Auckland, New Zealand.

In March 2015 Reynolds Group Holdings completed the sale of SIG to Onex Corporation.

Hart's company vehicle is a Gulfstream G650-ER, registered N946JB.

Burns Philp and Company Limited was an Australian and New Zealand food manufacturing company dual listed on the ASX and NZX.