The FairWay Resolution dispute resolution organisation has been sold from Crown ownership to employee ownership, effective from July 2017.

The agreed purchase price was $6.5 million.

Fairway started in 1999 as the Dispute Resolution Service within ACC before becoming an independent Crown entity in 2011. It is New Zealand’s largest specialist conflict management company with a team of over 200 people throughout New Zealand.

“An independent review of the ACC dispute resolution process in 2016 found that Crown ownership affected clients’ perceptions of FairWay’s independence and the report cited change of ownership as a possible solution,” ACC Minister Michael Woodhouse says.

Mr Woodhouse's statement says independent advice was relied upon to identify and assess appropriate options for the long-term ownership of the company with the employee ownership model best for the crown and company.

A statement from FairWay says Rhys West has been appointed as Chief Executive, together with a new Board comprising Anita Chan QC as Chair and Daniel Nakhle, Mark Sandelin, Rachel Farrant and Peter Blades as Directors.

"Rhys and Anita have been acting in these capacities in recent months, and each of our Directors have served on the FairWay Board previously," the statement says.