Extract business put into receivership

UNCERTAIN FUTURE: A chipper on the Taupo site. PHOTO/FILE

A Rotorua-based company in the process of developing a multimillion-dollar manufacturing plant near Taupo has gone into receivership and is for sale as a "going concern".

The company, Pacific T&R, was formed by Rotorua's Ray Mountfort and has been building a manufacturing plant to produce turpenes and rosins extracted from pine stumps and logs on its Miro St site in Taupo.

Natural pine extracts are an important ingredient in many day to day consumables such as adhesive tapes, high-end paints, printing inks, chewing gums, fragrances and flavours.

Mr Mountfort had spent the past 11 years developing the process. He previously told the Rotorua Daily Post, that once operational the plant would employ up to 50 people and produce up to 18,000 tonnes of the product annually.

Work on the site began in August 2013 and it was expected to be fully operational early this year.

According to the New Zealand Companies Register Mr Mountfort stood down from his directorship in October last year and an Auckland company, McGrathNicol, was appointed as receiver on January 30.

Major investors, Australia's Macquarie Capital Group and New Zealand's Selene Holdings owned two thirds of the company between them.

Receiver Andrew Grenfell of McGrathNicol said the company ran out of funding "notwithstanding various funding options been [sic] discussed over the past few months by the stakeholders before the receivers were appointed by a secured lender".

"Importantly however, short-term funding has been provided so that the business can continue on a business as usual basis, including continued employment of staff, while the receivers undertake a sales process."

Mr Grenfell said the receivers were attempting to sell the entire project and its associated assets and were "identifying and contacting potential interested parties directly".

"Given we are requesting offers for the whole project you can assume any purchaser would want to complete the project, but that decision would be the purchaser's," Mr Grenfell said.

The business employs 22 staff and will be sold by tender as a going concern.

One of the company's current directors, Steve Pittman, also of Rotorua, said he did not wish to comment, apart from saying he was happy with comments made by the receivers.