The Overseas Investment Office (OIO) has approved the application by a Singaporean investment management company to buy half the shares of New Zealand Pastures Limited, a locally-owned company that operates seven South Island sheep and beef farms.
The farms :Three Rivers, Grantham Springs, Hitchin Hills, Quailburn, Hills Creek, The Styx and Huntleigh, cover almost 23,500 hectares.
Singapore company Duxton Asset Management is buying the shares on behalf of itself and two other overseas investment funds.
The application to the OIO says the investment will allow the owners to continue developing and lifting productivity on the farms.
It's the second big overseas investment in South Island farmland approved in recent months.
In September, one of New Zealand's biggest farming operations, Mt Pember Station in Canterbury's Lees Valley was sold to a North American investment group.
Mt Pember is an amalgamation of seven runs and farms, totalling more than 27,000 hectares.
