Watson & Son founder Denis Watson. The firm is now partly owned by South Island iwi Ngai Tahu.

South Island iwi Ngai Tahu have bought 50 per cent of Masterton premium honey firm Watson & Son in a multi-million-dollar deal.

The deal was confirmed in advertisements this week for a new chief executive and directors for the firm, which stated that Watson & Son is "jointly owned by its founders and Ngai Tahu Holdings Limited".

Wellington-born apiarist Denis Watson established the firm in 2004 and until now has wholly owned it with son Dan.

Industry sources understood the deal was worth more than $40 million, but Ngai Tahu representatives had not responded to requests for confirmation on Wednesday afternoon.

Denis Watson said he would not comment until Ngai Tahu had.

He will remain managing director of Watson & Son, which produces premium manuka honey, highly valued for its "bioactive" medicinal qualities, and exports it internationally.

In 2008 it won the Deloitte/Unlimited Fast 50 award for fastest growing business.

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Last year, then-chief executive Warren Peat said Watson & Son employs 85 staff throughout the North Island, rising to about 115 in high season.

Annual turnover was about $30m, Peat said.

Ngai Tahu Holdings' assets portfolio is worth more than $1 billion, which now includes 50 per cent of Watson & Son, according to the directorship application pack.

The firm had 25,000 hives and produced 2000 tonnes of honey.

Denis Watson would be one of about six directors.

Ngai Tahu Holdings would appoint three directors and sought nominations for the others.

Medical-grade manuka honey is booming nationally, with a government and industry partnership targeting a lift in exports from $75m to $1.2 billion a year by 2028.

Masterton District Council economic development programme manager Tina Nixon said the deal was the latest sign Wairarapa was becoming a "centre of excellence and activity" for manuka honey.

"It's one of the biggest opportunities we've had in Masterton for some considerable time."

The council was processing a spike in building consent applications for the industry, Carterton's Taratahi Agricultural College had an increasingly popular beekeeping course and companies were taking on extra staff and equipment to keep up.

She understood Ngai Tahu had chosen Watson & Son partly because of a match in business, environmental and social philosophies.

"They have a similar sort of thinking around what would benefit Maori development."

Ngai Tahu was also a recognised corporate expert in marketing products into Asia – one of Watson's main markets.