Graeme Hart tipped to buy Fiji island

ROBERT SHAKESPEARE

HAVE BOAT, NEED ISLAND: New Zealand billionaire Graeme Hart's $100 million super yacht Ulysses.

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You've got the $100-million motor yacht, the hilltop Glendowie mansion, the large block on Waiheke. What's next?

Well, if you're New Zealand's richest man, how about a Fijian island to call your very own?

Graeme Hart and wife Robyn have just bought a company called Knight Services (Fiji). The seller of the company, Pacific Islands Partnership (PIP), markets 99-year leases on Fijian islands. The PIP website is currently showing four islands as available for sale.

PIP, which ex-All Black Eric Rush has a small shareholding in, attempted in July to auction one of these islands, Eori. However, the island was passed in after the one bid of $1m didn't meet the reserve price.

Eori is described as being nine hectares in size, 50 kilometres from Port Denerau, and 54km   or 12 minutes by helicopter   from Nadi International Airport.

Of course, if you have your own marine-bound pleasure ship  and Hart has the 58-metre Ulysses  then you might not need to fly.

Eori, the blurb on the PIP website says, "faces due west out to endless, uninterrupted sunsets and stunning views of surrounding islands to the south visible from the main beach".

The island is apparently "absolutely prime'' for construction of a small boutique island resort, with ample high ground for luxury villas as well. 

The Independent could not contact property developer Tim Manning, the main shareholder of Pacific Islands Partnership, to confirm that his recent transaction with the Harts was indeed the sale of an island. And Hart studiously avoids media attention.

Hart, who is in his 50s, has established a reputation as being one of the shrewdest buyers and sellers of businesses around. Forbes Magazine this year estimated he is the 110th richest person in the world, with a worth of around US$4.5 billion ($6.1b).

- © Fairfax NZ News