In this biography
Quick facts
- Born
- Not established
- Birthplace
- Not independently established
- Country
- New Zealand
- Nationality
- Not independently established
- Known for
- Navman, export electronics and later technology investment
- Birth details
- Not established by selected records
- Original venture
- Talon Technology,1986
- Ownership stages
- 70 percent in 2003; remaining 30 percent in 2004
Why this life matters
His career connects exported navigation technology, international ownership changes and the uneven outcomes of subsequent technology investment.
Timeline
Key moments
Talon Technology
Official investiture citation dates the establishment of the later Navman business.
Initial Brunswick acquisition
Issuer filing records a 70 percent acquisition on 23 June.
Remaining interest acquired
Brunswick acquired the remaining 30 percent.
Technology investment profile
NZTE describes later investments and advisory work.
Honour redesignated
Official list dated 1 August redesignates him KNZM.
Growth depended on staff and international commercial relationships
In a 2013 written interview, Ian Daniel recalled being hired by Maire in 2002 during a period of rapid expansion. Daniel’s description credits Maire’s vision but also makes the organisational growth visible: Navman contained different product activities and employed teams whose work could later be separated into distinct businesses. The account is a participant’s recollection rather than a complete engineering history. It supports Maire’s role in building an export enterprise without assigning him sole invention of marine instruments, satellite positioning or every product carrying the Navman name. Technology development, production and distribution required a much wider group of contributors.
The Brunswick acquisition happened in stages
Brunswick’s 2004 annual filing records its initial 70 percent acquisition of Navman in June 2003 and purchase of the remaining 30 percent in 2004. The second transaction used cash and Brunswick shares. A contemporaneous issuer release, republished by Boating Industry, describes Maire and other New Zealand managers continuing in their roles and contributing to the wider Brunswick New Technologies strategy. This was a change in ownership alongside operational continuity at that moment. It was not proof that the founder personally received the entire consideration or that all activities would remain together indefinitely. The later business-line sales confirm that those are separate questions.
Later investment connected him with several New Zealand companies
NZTE’s 2008 briefing describes Maire as a past Navman president and identifies investments in Rakon, Cadmus, Orion Systems and Fusion Electronics. It also records involvement in advisory bodies concerned with growth, innovation and investment. This was a transition from the development of a single export company toward supporting a wider group of technology businesses. The briefing’s titles describe its own period, not a present-day appointment list. Dated official recognition followed a related chronology: his original appointment as a Distinguished Companion was 2 June 2008; the official 1 August 2009 list redesignated him as a Knight Companion.
The record includes a company failure alongside recognition
Technology investment did not produce a uniformly successful sequence. A 2020 liquidators’ report for Provencocadmus lists Peter Charles Maire among its directors and records receivers being appointed on 3 August 2009, followed by liquidation on 13 March 2020. The report identifies a holding company for subsidiaries and warns that supplied information was not independently audited. It is evidence of a corporate insolvency process, not Maire’s personal insolvency or a finding of misconduct. His career therefore includes export-company development, international transactions, investments and exposure to business setbacks. The dates and corporate boundaries are necessary to describe that record fairly.
Sources for this section: [8]
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions about Peter Maire
- What is Peter Maire known for?
- Navman, export electronics and later technology investment.
- How precise are the life dates in this account?
- No birth year, date or birthplace is asserted from unverified secondary aggregators.
Keep exploring
Lives connected to this story
- Bill Buckley
Compare another New Zealand electronics and engineering export career.
- Theresa Gattung
Place technology entrepreneurship beside a distinct large-company telecommunications career.
Sources and further reading
Explore the evidence
These references support the biography and offer further reading. Official records, first-person accounts and independent reporting provide different perspectives; image records document attribution and licensing.
- 1. Office of the Governor-General of New ZealandPeter Maire investiture citation,26 September 2008
Indexed official investiture citation supports Talon Technology’s 1986 origin. Direct page unavailable; no current title or photo grant inferred.
- 2. New Zealand Trade and EnterpriseNZTE briefing to incoming minister,2008: Appendix 3
Official briefing selectedPDF 21–22 appendix read via captured PDF text. Investments and advisory roles describe 2008, not current offices.
- 3. Andrew Patterson, interest.co.nz; written Ian Daniel interviewLeading the charge, leading global consolidation,16 April 2013
Written 2013 Ian Daniel interview read; participant account of hiring and business-line changes. No audio or complete transfer contract inspected.
- 4. Brunswick CorporationBrunswick 2004 Form 10-K: Navman acquisition notes
Original issuer filing, selected acquisition table and Navman paragraphs.2003 initial 70%and 2004 remaining 30%; no individual receipt inferred.
- 5. Brunswick release reproduced by Boating IndustryBrunswick purchases final 30 percent of Navman,3 June 2004
Republished issuer release, not a separately audited assessment. Continuing management was a dated statement, not a perpetual employment guarantee.
- 6. Brunswick Corporation; US Securities and Exchange CommissionBrunswick amended Q3 2008 Form 10-Q, Note 16
SelectedNote 16 of an amended 2008 quarterly filing, reporting completed 2007 disposals. Not silently substituted for an original 2007 edition.
- 7. Department of the Prime Minister and CabinetSpecial Honours List 1 August 2009: Maire redesignation
Actual official Maire entry and group date read. Original appointment 2 June 2008; KNZM redesignation 1 August 2009. Plain display name retained.
- 8. McDonald VagueProvencocadmus: Liquidators’ First Report,2020
Original liquidator PDF 1–2 read. Company receivership 2009 and liquidation 2020 are distinct; director listing does not prove personal insolvency or misconduct.
