 Gibbs then gained stakes in Atlas Majestic Industries, Bendon and Ceramco, three prominent New Zealand public companies which he merged in 1986 and 1987 and that was liquidated in 1989.Meantime, in 1985 he and Trevor Farmer made a successful $114 million takeover bid for the publicly listed transport and security company Freightways Ltd.In early 1990 the Fourth Labour Government confirmed it would sell the Telecom Corporation of New Zealand.