New Zealand

The Chinese-backed investor trying to buy 20 New Zealand farms -- most linked to the Crafar family -- has protected its deal by pushing the terms of settlement for the purchase of 16 farms in receivership out to September 30 this year, The National Business Review reported. Natural Dairy NZ Holdings told the Hong Kong stock exchange that its advisers needed time to consider the decision by two New Zealand cabinet ministers to refuse overseas investment approval for the farm sales.

The developers of the luxury Quayside apartment complex in Whakatane have left a debt of almost $15 million, according to receivers, The National Business Review reported. Failed company Quayside Trustee's debts exceed $14.7m, too high to be offset by the sale of unsold apartments, which have been marked down substantially in a saturated Whakatane property market. Twenty-nine of the 43 apartments in the George Street complex remain unsold. They are being offered for sale at an average price of $380,000, or $11m for the lot. Prices have been reduced by $100,000 and more.

Mutual Finance is the latest finance company to be investigated by the Serious Fraud Office. The SFO said it began the investigation (under part II of the SFO Act) on December 23, after considering information obtained from Mutual Finance's receiver and from the National Enforcement Unit, The National Business Review reported.

Embattled Auckland property developer Andrew Krukziener gave up a 10 year battle against Inland Revenue when he yesterday put himself into voluntary bankruptcy, The National Business Review reported. Mr Krukziener surrendered himself to the Official Assignee in Auckland shortly before noon on Thursday, his lawyer Bruce Stewart QC disclosed. Mr Stewart told NBR that Mr Krukziener's fight to satisfy creditors had now proven "too much" for him and he "could not handle it any longer". The Official Assignee has control of Mr Krukziener's affairs for three years.

The receiver for Pike River Coal says it could take a year for the company's insurance claim to be paid out, Radio New Zealand reported. The company went into receivership on Monday, more than three weeks after explosions begain at the West Coast mine in which 29 workers died. Receiver John Fisk of PriceWaterhouseCoopers says the calculations to lodge a claim under the company's business interruption insurance are still being worked on. He told Nine to Noon on Thursday the policy is worth $100 million but the amount paid out may be significantly less.

Former Hanover director Mark Hotchin has had his New Zealand assets frozen by order of the High Court, on application from the Securities Commission, The National Business Review reported. A Securities Commission statement said the application was granted without notice to Mr Hotchin on Friday. Mr Hotchin intended to apply to revoke these orders, the statement said. A hearing is expected in February 2011.

The lawyer for controversial businesswoman May Wang was back in court today seeking to have her bankruptcy suspended ahead of her fight to have it revoked, The New Zealand Herald reported. Wang, the front person for a group of Chinese investors seeking to buy $1.5 billion of New Zealand dairy farms, was last week ruled bankrupt at the High Court in Auckland. The court also turned down a proposal to repay 6c in the dollar to creditors who were owed $22 million following the collapse of Wang's hotel and property business Dynasty Group.

The New Zealand company that operates the coal mine where 29 miners died in a series of explosions last month said Monday it has been placed into receivership, Bloomberg reported on an Associated Press story. Pike River Coal Ltd chairman John Dow said that the largest shareholder, NZ Oil & Gas, appointed accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers as receivers. The coal miner is expected to announce mass redundancies on Tuesday among its 180-strong work force. The first major methane-fueled explosion ripped through the mine on Nov.

The Serious Fraud Office has arrested and laid six Crimes Act charges against one current and one former director of failed finance company Capital + Merchant in relation to $14.5 million worth of related party lending dating back to 2002, BusinessDay.co.nz reported. The two men charged at Neal Nicholls and Wayne Douglas, the founding directors and beneficial owners of the company which went into receivership in November 207 owing 7000 investors $167 million. Nicholls remained as a director until the company went under but Douglas had resigned a few months earlier in February of that year.

May Wang is set to appeal a bankruptcy ruling over a $22 million debt, while the company she is fronting considers whether it will proceed with its bid to purchase the Crafar farms, The New Zealand Herald reported. Ms Wang lost her year-long battle with Westpac at the High Court at Auckland yesterday, leaving the future of the deal between Hong Kong-listed company Natural Dairy and the New Zealand-based UBNZ group hanging in the balance. Ms Wang is the director and sole shareholder of UBNZ's trustee.