Auckland based Capital + Merchant Finance has collapsed and been placed in receivership with debts of around $190m, leaving the deposits of at least 7000 investors under threat.
It is the 13th such failure in the industry here in the past 18 months.
Capital + Merchant Finance Ltd
and Capital + Merchant Investments, had breached general security agreements with Australian company Fortress Credit Corp, said receivers Tim Downes and Richard Simpson of Grant Thornton.
The company's collpase has also affected broadcaster TVNZ.
Capital + Merchant Finance were the sponsor of TVNZ's nightly news updates, but a spokesperson said that sponsorship had now been pulled.
"We can't accept advertising from a company who can't pay," spokeswoman Megan Richards said this afternoon.
When asked if TVNZ had a moral responsibility to decline advertising from a finance company in receivership, Ms Richards said the decision was purely commercial.
She said the broadcaster has not yet replaced the sponsor for its news updates.
The Capital + Merchant Finance companies had lent to the property and property development sector.
The state of the debenture market meant the companies' ability to attract new funds and retain existing investments was "significantly constrained", the receivers said.
Visitors to the company's website were told that the site is "under construction" but a copy of the cached page by Google was available.
However no information on the company's current status is available to investors on the site.
The company's free phone number and 0800 number were both engaged.
More than ten finance companies have collapsed in the past 18 months, including seven this year as a result of a global credit crunch, owing investors more than $1 billion.
The Queen-St based company was incorporated in 2002. They claimed to manage investments "in excess of $185,000,000", in a statement dated December 2005.
- NZPA, NZHERALD STAFF
