May Wang creditors say yes to 2c payout plan

May Wang arrives for a creditors meeting in Auckland this morning. Photo / Natalie Slade

Creditors in May Wang's failed property development company have voted in favour of a deal that will see them get repaid 2c in the dollar.

The Chinese businesswoman, who is fronting a $1.5 billion bid to buy up New Zealand dairy farms, said she was relieved creditors had "seen fit to accept my proposal".

Wang offered creditors just $500,000 to settle a $22 million debt, which equates to about 2c in the dollar.

She will now wait to have the deal approved by the High Court - a process that may take another four weeks.

Almost half of the debt is owed to Dominion Finance, which itself owes investors $224 million after being placed in receivership in 2008.

Wang said the outcome vindicated her decision not to take the easy option of bankruptcy.

Instead she would "work hard to ensure my creditors receive as much of their money back as I can afford and have been able to borrow."

Westpac has applied to the Auckland High Court to bankrupt Wang over a debt of $620,000.

That hearing was later adjourned, to give creditors time to vote on her proposal.

It is now expected the case, which is due back in court tomorrow, will be further adjourned to a date following the High Court sign-off of the deal.

Wang said her creditors would receive little, if anything if she were made bankrupt.

Of the 12 creditors, seven attended today's meeting, while another five voted by mail. Representatives of the creditors leaving the meeting said they had been instructed not to talk publicly about the deal.

Asked whether the outcome of the meeting was positive, one representative said "it depends what side of the fence you're sitting on".

Wang's lawyer Paul Sills described the outcome as "spectacular" as he left the meeting.

Last week Sills said creditors were particularly interested in plans by UBNZ, a company which Wang is fronting, to spend $1.5 billion to acquire New Zealand dairy farms, including the Crafar farms.

"There has been so much press about it. It obviously raises everyone's curiosity and they (the creditors) want to be happy in their own minds that they are distinctly separate issues," he said.

Wang said acceptance of her proposal would allow her to concentrate on her work with UBNZ Assets Holdings Ltd and the acquisition of the Crafar portfolio of dairy farms.

Equitable General Insurance, the IRD, ANZ, Golden Funds, Allied Nationwide Finance and the Wine Country Credit Union make up the rest of May Wang's creditors.