The big question is whether van Heeren can pull a legal rabbit out of the hat and get the stoush back into the courts here - or has a bitter fight lasting more than 20 years entered the endgame? Those are the questions long-term watchers of this intriguing stoush will be asking.
Just accounting for the disputed assets will be an exercise in itself.
Kidd's investigators have alleged in court that assets such as Huka Lodge, to which Kidd has already attached a caveat to prevent its sale; the exclusive Dolphin Island in Fiji; half the proceeds from the 1987 sale of nearly 14,000 shares in Wellesley Resources (US$16.8 million-US$20.7 million; offshore bank accounts; gold bars, bearer certificates and shares.
Kid first sued van Heeren in 1996 for half of his New Zealand assets, arguing he was deceived when the pair ended a 16-year partnership 1991.
At that time Kidd signed an agreement which netted him US$3 million for his share of the partnership assets which included an indemnity clause.
The case later bounced off to the South African High Court where Judge Kathy Satchwell declared the agreement void and said it was not unreasonable for Kidd to rely on his partner.
"All of the evidence before me is that Kidd was the steel trader and van Heeren the financial partner. Kidd had, over many years, left the documentation side of the partnership in van Heeren's very able hands and the partnership had done well as a result ... it was not unreasonable for Kidd to place every reliance upon van Heeren.
"I am satisfied that van Heeren took advantage of Kidd - in Kidd's trust in his partner, in Kidd's 15-year reliance upon the financial acumen of his partner," the judge said.
Judge Satchwell did not believe Kidd would have signed the indemnity document had he known its true content and said "there was an entire concatenation of (mis)representations by van Heeren to Kidd".
Last week, Justice Fogarty in his written judgment noted it was important that Kidd had had to reach a high hurdle to convince the South African court the worldwide indemnity should be set aside.
"He read it. He signed it. To sustain an argument that the indemnity should be declared null and void it was crucial that the South African court find that he was a partner, entitled to trust his co-partner, and that defendant's silence, as a partner, was positively misleading, given the worldwide scope of the indemnity."
Speaking from South Africa over the weekend, Kidd described the court judgment as a "good result".
"I'm delighted that we have been vindicated and that a second judge can see the situation."
Kidd said there had been many opportunities to make a settlement along the way. But van Heeren did not wish to discuss it.
"I've had enormous support from the attorneys and senior counsel in Johannesburg; wonderful support from Brent O'Callaghan in New Zealand and Bryan Cooper has been a stalwart through it all."
Kidd had continued to work in steel-trading since he began his quest to get a substantial financial settlement out of van Heeren.
Kidd is constrained in what he can say at this stage. But he added: "I'm not giving up. My cause is just. We have a great team of attorneys and are going forward."
Meanwhile another Alex - the former CEO of Heart of the City Alex Swney - yesterday pleaded guilty to dishonestly using documents to obtain $2.5 million.
Swney admitted he had created fictitious invoices, submitted them and then ensured they were paid to accounts which he controlled.
Said Serious Fraud Office director Julie Read: "Mr Swney dishonestly obtained funds to which he knew he was not entitled. The misappropriation of funding intended to benefit Auckland businesses increased the cost of the services provided by Heart of the City and reduced the benefits delivered by what has otherwise been a very successful venture."
Reid went on to point out the obvious that a fraud was costly for the business and the community as it harmed the integrity of the organisation.
The fundamental question - which remains to be addressed - is how come his extensive frauds were not picked up by Heart of the City's board or its auditor?
