John Tookey: Professor of Construction Management at AUT on Fletcher Building's sale of its construction arm

Early Edition with Ryan Bridge · Jan 20, 2026 · 3m · transcript

Fletcher Building's calling time on its construction arm after a difficult few years.

It's signed a sale deal with French multi-national Vinci Construction, subject to regulatory approval.

The final reckoning could sit on about $334 million, and it'll move its focus to manufacturing and distribution.

AUT Construction Professor John Tookey says it's a seismic shift, but Fletcher's been overstretched in recent years, so it's not a big surprise.

He told Andrew Dickens the question is going to be whether the removal will significantly impact the profitability and sales of the building products…