Luxury resort ready for buyer to book in

Te Kaha resort in the Bay of Plenty boasts a helipad, heated pool and ocean views.

The second set of receivers to take control of a Bay of Plenty resort in less than five years have been made two offers for the "luxury" beachfront complex, whose last owners still owe millions of dollars to creditors.

The now-failed Dominion Finance agreed to front more than $5 million for the construction of a resort in Te Kaha, which was completed in 2007 and boasts a helipad, a heated "Infinity-style" pool, and "stunning" ocean views.

This lending was raised by prosecutors during the Dominion fraud trial last year and the advance was referred to in the High Court at Auckland as a "problem loan" for the finance firm.

The borrower and former owner of the East Coast property, a company called Te Kaha Resort, was put into receivership in 2009 owing $6.05 million to Dominion, which was a secured creditor.

At the time, Te Kaha Resort also owed $1.7 million to another secured creditor and a further $4.98 million to 13 unsecured creditors.

Receiver Iain McLennan, partner at insolvency specialists McDonald Vague, told the Herald that Dominion had received a payout of about $2.7 million to date.

He said the other secured creditor, owed $1.7 million when the receivers were appointed, had got back less than $1000.

No funds were available for the unsecured creditors, a number of whom are believed to be associated with the directors of the company.

After trading in receivership, the resort complex was sold two and a half years ago to a company called Te Kaha Resort (2011).

This company is directed by Peter Bidois, described by a Bay of Plenty radio station as an "Auckland real estate mogul". The sale price was about $3.1 million.

After about two years in this company's hands, receivers from McDonald Vague were once again appointed to manage the property last November.

Asked about the events leading up to the receivership, McDonald Vague's Boris Van Delden said the recession had meant sales were "drastically" down and that the company defaulted on payments to its main creditor.

The first receivers' report for Te Kaha Resort (2011) was issued last month and said secured creditors are owed around $4.6 million.

It appeared unsecured creditors were owed about $140,000 and there were unlikely to be any surplus funds available for them, the receivers' report said.

Receivers say the resort was trading profitably in receivership and is now on the market.

McLennan said he had received two offers for the resort but last Thursday was unable to give further detail on these.

He said the main creditor had commissioned a valuation of the resort so the offers could be properly assessed.