14 July 2014
New Zealand Superannuation Fund Invests In Manuka Health
The New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZSF), via Waterman Capital, in May 2012 took a stake in natural health products
company Manuka Health New Zealand Ltd.
Waterman Capital is a private equity investor contracted by NZSF – the New Zealand Government’s sovereign investment
fund – to invest in New Zealand’s most promising companies. Watermans owns 20% of Manuka Health.
Kerry Paul, Manuka Health’s Chief Executive, said Waterman’s investment was a welcome acknowledgement of Manuka’s strong
growth path.
“It’s great that New Zealanders, via this investment, will benefit from the development of this natural New Zealand
resource.
“Manuka honey is unique in that it contains the compound methylglyoxal, which was identified by Professor Thomas Henle
of the Technical University of Dresden in 2006,” Kerry said.
Methylglyoxal is widely recognised as the major antimicrobial compound responsible for the characteristic NPA
[non-peroxide activity] in manuka honey. This was recently noted by Dr David Hoyland of Minerva Scientific in an article
in the influential UK trade magazine The Grocer.
See our media release on The Grocer’s article here.
New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) recognises that methylglyoxal causes the non- peroxide activity of
manuka honey and will shortly issue labelling guidelines.
See MPI’s document here.
ends