“I can say that our accountants have supplied information to the shareholders, where we believe we’re a solvent and good business that has $5.1 million in its corporate bank accounts and we have the support of its lenders,” Kenyon told Stuff.
In a written letter to Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly, minority shareholders of Du Val Property Group urged the Government to take the business out of statutory management in order to prevent further financial harm to the company and mental stress to shareholders.
The Clarkes’ lawyer Daniel Nilsson told the High Court at Auckland yesterday during an application from the media for access to the PwC receivers’ report that statutory management was a “brutal” regime and “a level of state intervention that has Cold War vibes to it”.
The letter to Bayly said shareholders are concerned the public has been only getting one side of the story, Stuff reported.
“While the DVPG board has effectively been silenced, [John] Fisk (one of PwC’s statutory managers) appears to be all over the media and has released information asserting $250m of debt is outstanding,” the letter says.
Though Kenyon Clarke has nothing to do with the letter, he said he understood what the shareholders were going through.
“The shareholders should be free to appoint a board of their choosing and that doesn’t need to include me,” he told Stuff.
“It would be wrong of me whilst I was under investigation to have continued as a director, you’d want to resolve those issues before you moved on.
“So from that perspective, this isn’t about me, it’s about the 67 people who own the business.”
It is the first time Clarke has spoken publicly since his property development group was placed into interim receivership.
He has not responded to numerous requests for comment from the Herald.
In a statement to the Herald tonight, Bayly’s office the Minister had received the shareholders’ letter this afternoon and would respond formally.
“The decision to place the Du Val Group into statutory management followed a recommendation from the Financial Markets Authority. Statutory management suspends all current liquidation processes and enables the affairs of the group as a whole to be dealt with in an orderly and expeditious way.
“As you will be aware, there are ongoing court proceedings, including in relation to what information will be released to the public about the matter. While the matter is before the courts he cannot comment further. Any questions should be directed to the statutory managers.”
Speaking on the statutory management in August, Bayly described the Du Val situation as “complex and of such a scale that immediate intervention is required to prevent broader harm”.
“Statutory management is the option of last resort used to deal with complex corporate failure where ordinary insolvency law is inadequate. It is intended to protect investors and creditors from further losses and to enable the orderly administration of a company’s affairs.”
Between 120 and 150 investors, home buyers, commercial lenders and tradespeople have put money into Du Val.
