The directors of biotechnology company Botry-Zen Ltd have resigned, saying there is unlikely to be any assets remaining once receivers have finished their job, The National Business Review reported. "The board again expresses its disappointment that, due to a lack of capital, it was unable to see to fruition the good work done, and investment made, by many people over a number of years." The directors said their resignation would be effective from March 30. The biotechnology company, which was floated on the New Zealand share market in 1991, was placed in receivership in December.

A blitz of caveats put on Crafar North Island dairy farm titles by the company acting as the buying agent for a Chinese group is being removed by the Crafar receiver, The Dominion Post reported. A search of property titles for many of the farms involved in the Crafar receivership shows caveats registered by UBNZ Funds Management, the New Zealand company partly owned by Chinese company Natural Dairy (NZ) Holdings, which is in negotiations to buy more than 20 farms in the receivership.

Taranaki-based Organic Dairy Limited, owned by New Zealand Organic Dairy Farmers Co-operative, has gone into receivership owing an estimated $15 million and costing about 30 jobs, The New Zealand Herald reported. Receivers were appointed on Friday and the Okato factory stopped operating on Saturday, the Taranaki Daily News reported. The directors asked their major creditor, the Bank of New Zealand, to appoint receivers.

A High Court bid by Fletcher Construction to bankrupt New Zealand property developer Nigel McKenna was this morning adjourned by Associate Judge Jeremy Doogue for a hearing on May 6, The National Business Review reported. Mr McKenna’s lawyer John Billington QC told NBR outside the court that Mr McKenna had committed no acts of bankruptcy. McKenna’s Melview Featherston Street company was placed in receivership and liquidation in December after it skipped court ordered payments to Fletcher Construction for building the Wellington Holiday Inn.

The New Zealand company behind stages two and three of Queenstown’s ambitious hotel/apartment development, Kawarau Falls Station, has been placed in receivership, Scene.co.nz reported. Grant Thornton New Zealand Ltd’s Tim Downes and Richard Simpson were appointed receivers and managers of Peninsula Road Ltd on Tuesday this week. The receivership is another blow for Peninsula Road shareholder/director and high-profile Auckland developer Nigel McKenna.

Two brothers' dreams of owning and running a large scale sheep and beef farming operation in New Zealand’s Central North Island have seen their ambitions disappear - with the announcement of a receivership sale of their sizeable landholdings, Voxy reported. Pohonui farm and Rosemerryn farm - both west of Taihape - were purchased only a few years ago when the farming sector was booming.

New Zealand-owned kitchen and appliance chain Autel is in receivership after being buffeted by the housing downturn and pressure from big international chains, The New Zealand Herald reported. Kerryn Downey and William Black of McGrathNicol have been appointed receivers and managers of three companies that sell imported kitchen and laundry goods: Autel TV Services Limited, Lifestyle Appliances (2004) Limited and Prestige Appliances NZ Limited.

Australian firms will find it easier to sell bonds in the U.S. after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s government said it would reverse a court decision that ranked shareholders equally with creditors, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. said, BusinessWeek reported. Some U.S. private placement investors had put Australian bonds into the “too-hard basket” on concerns that the Sons of Gwalia ruling would lower their ranking in the event of a default, ANZ head of debt capital markets Brad Scott said in a Feb. 5 briefing to investors.

Salthouse Marine Ltd, a historic and respected New Zealand maker of motor yachts, is in the hands of a receiver and is closing with the loss of about 50 jobs, TVNZ reported. Receiver John Price of HPL Partners said he was called in last Thursday by a private investor. "I have closed the company and all of the staff have been laid off," Price said. Two boats near completion were being finished and a decision was yet to be made on a large project. He declined to put a figure on the size of the receivership.