Bank selling Serepisos headquarters

ANZ National Bank is seeking to recover $25.2 million from the sale of bankrupt Wellington property developer Terry Serepisos' former headquarters.

Receivers for Century City Investments, Barry Jordan and David Vance have put ASB Bank Tower up for sale by public tender, jointly managed by Colliers International and CBRE.

The building was valued at $34.2 million in 2009, although the receivers have withheld an independent valuation report commissioned since their appointment in September. Tenders close on December 6.

"If a satisfactory sale cannot be achieved, the receivers will discuss with ANZ National other options which may include updating the tenancy profile and completing the deferred maintenances and capital works before repeating the sale process later in 2012," the receivers' first report stated.

The receivership followed Serepisos' bankruptcy in October, when he failed to convince the High Court in Wellington to give him more time to secure funding from a Hong Kong-based bank.

In August, Serepisos was granted an adjournment to put forward a proposal to creditors that would sell down his property portfolio in an orderly fashion to meet the total $204 million owed. That plan was later scotched when the property developer sought new funding.

Receivers said the Century City unit had been in financial difficulty for at least two years and, due to loan defaults, had entered into a "lockbox" arrangement whereby CB Richard Ellis was responsible for collecting rental income and paying all expenses relating to the building's operation. Surplus funds were transferred into a bank account nominated by ANZ National.

The bank holds a first mortgage on the building and is the first-ranked creditor. Allied Farmers Investments hold a second mortgage on the property and is owed $4.3 million.

APNZ