Fletcher Challenge was a

multinational corporation A multinational company (MNC), also referred to as a multinational enterprise (MNE), a transnational enterprise (TNE), a transnational corporation (TNC), an international corporation or a stateless corporation with subtle but contrasting senses, i ...

from New Zealand. It was formed in 1981 by the merger of Fletcher Holdings, Challenge Corporation and

Tasman Pulp and Paper Tasman most often refers to Abel Tasman (1603–1659), Dutch explorer. Tasman may also refer to: Animals and plants * Tasman booby * Tasman flax-lily * Tasman parakeet (disambiguation) * Tasman starling * Tasman whale People * Tasman ( ...

. It had holdings in construction, forestry, building, and energy, initially just within New Zealand and then internationally as well, and at one time was the largest company in New Zealand. In 2001 it was split into three companies, Fletcher Challenge Forests,

Fletcher Building Fletcher Building Limited is one of the largest listed companies in New Zealand, with a market capitalisation of nearly New Zealand dollar, NZ$4 billion. The company was split from Fletcher Challenge in 2001, formerly New Zealand's largest bu ...

(incorporating

Fletcher Construction The Fletcher Construction Company Limited is a New Zealand construction company and a subsidiary of Fletcher Building. Together with Higgins Contractors Ltd it makes up the Construction division of Fletcher Building. Fletcher Construction is wid ...

), and

Rubicon The Rubicon ( la, Rubico; it, Rubicone ; rgn, Rubicôn ) is a shallow river in northeastern Italy, just north of Rimini. It was known as Fiumicino until 1933, when it was identified with the ancient river Rubicon, famously crossed by Julius Ca ...

History

The corporation was formed in January 1981 with the mutual merger of Challenge Corporation, Fletcher Holdings and Tasman Pulp and Paper. It was initially based in Wellington's Challenge House, but later moved in 1987 to a new head office in Penrose, Auckland. In 1987 the corporation acquired the

state-owned enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a Government, government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn Profit (econom ...

Petrocorp Petrocorp, formally the Petroleum Corporation of New Zealand Limited, is a former New Zealand state-owned enterprise that was formed in 1978. It was sold by the Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand, Fourth Labour government in 1988 to Fletche ...

, and created the Fletcher Energy division. Fletcher Energy's assets were subsequently sold to

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

New Zealand. In November 1993 Fletcher Challenge's share market listing was split into two shares, the Ordinary Division and Forests Division. The Forests Division consisted of the corporation's wood plantation assets and forestry activities. The Ordinary Division consisted of the corporation's pulp and paper, energy and building assets. In March 1996 the Ordinary Division was split further by creating three new shares - Fletcher Challenge Paper, Fletcher Challenge Building and Fletcher Challenge Energy. This structure lasted three years, until December 1999 when the Board of Directors of the company resolved to dismantle the Fletcher Challenge and establish separate companies. In 2000 the Canadian pulp and paper assets were sold to

Norske Skog Norske Skog ASA, formerly Norske Skogindustrier ASA, which translates as ''Norwegian Forest Industries'', is a Norwegian pulp and paper company established in 1962. The company has long been one of the world's leading manufacturers of newsprint ...

to form

NorskeCanada Catalyst Paper Corporation is a pulp and paper company based in Richmond, British Columbia. It operates five pulp mills and paper mills, producing a combined 1.8 million tonnes of paper and 491,000 tonnes of market pulp annually. The mills mostl ...

. In 2001 Fletcher Challenge was split into three companies, Fletcher Challenge Forests (later renamed Tenon),

(incorporating

), and

. A September 1996 investment in Central North Island Forest Partnership ended in receivership and is said to have contributed to the break up of Fletcher Challenge.

Battle of the Titans

The rise and fall of Fletcher Challenge and some of the principal personalities involved, including

Hugh Fletcher Hugh Alasdair Fletcher (born 28 November 1947) is a New Zealand businessman and former chancellor of the University of Auckland. Early life Fletcher was the second son born to Sir James Fletcher and Vaughan, Lady Fletcher. After attending Kin ...

and Sir Ronald Trotter is described in the book ''Battle of the Titans'' by Bruce Wallace.

Subsidiary companies

Subsidiaries were: *

Australian Newsprint Mills Australian Newsprint Mills (ANM) was an Australian newsprint manufacturer. History Australian Newsprint Mills was established in 1938 to build a newsprint manufacturing plant adjacent to the River Derwent at Boyer, Tasmania. Its founding ...

* Blandin Paper Co * Cape Horn Methanol Ltd - bought 1991 * Cemac (Hong Kong) Ltd - founded 1971 now in Fletcher Building *Challenge Deer Ltd * Challenge Livestock Ltd * Challenge Properties Ltd - joint venture * Challenge Realty Ltd - formed 1994 as franchise name * Challenge Seeds Ltd 1987-1994 * Challenge Wool Ltd * Crown Paper Co Ltd * Dinwiddie Construction Co * Firth Industries Ltd *

Fletcher Challenge Canada Fletcher Challenge was a multinational corporation from New Zealand. It was formed in 1981 by the merger of Fletcher Holdings, Challenge Corporation and Tasman Pulp and Paper. It had holdings in construction, forestry, building, and energy, init ...

Ltd * Fletcher Challenge Methanol Ltd * Fletcher Challenge Petroleum Ltd * Fletcher Construction Australia Ltd *

Co Ltd * Fletcher Construction Group Ltd * Fletcher Development & Construction Co Ltd * Fletcher Homes Ltd * Fletcher Merchants Ltd * Fletcher Pacific Construction Co Ltd * Fletcher Panel Industries Ltd * Fletcher Steel Sector *

Golden Bay Cement Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall *Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershir ...

Co Ltd * Jennings Group Ltd * Pacific Coilcoaters Ltd * Pacific Steel Ltd * Petralgas Chemicals NZ Ltd 1980-2005 * Petroleum Corporation of New Zealand Ltd * Pisa-Papel de Imprensa SA *

Placemakers PlaceMakers is the trading name of Fletcher Distribution Limited, the retail trading arm of Fletcher Building in New Zealand. PlaceMakers also manufactures wall frames, roof trusses and structural components at various frame and truss operation ...

Ltd * Rural Bank * Tasman Asia Shipping Co Ltd * Tasman Chile SA *

Tasman Forestry The Tasman Mill site is a pulp and paper mill located on Fletcher Avenue just outside the town of Kawerau in New Zealand. The Tasman Mill site is the largest single employer in the Eastern Bay of Plenty region. Three pulp or paper companies pre ...

Ltd * Tasman Lumber Co Ltd * Tasman Pulp & Paper * The Rural Bank Ltd * UK Paper plc * William Guppy & Son Ltd * Winstone Aggregates Ltd * Winstone Industries Ltd * Wiremakers Ltd * Wright Schuchart Inc * Wrightson * Wrightson Bloodstock Ltd * Wrightson NMA Ltd

References

External links

Fletcher Challenge Archives

Fletcher Construction

Tenon

Rubicon
{{Authority control Defunct companies of New Zealand