Blue Star’s bankers face haircut worth tens of millions

However, trade suppliers look set to escape the exposure, as both Geoff Selig, who led the acquisition of its Australian operating assets, and Tom Sturgess, who led the buyout of Blue Star's New Zealand operating assets, previously assured ProPrint they would honour these debts.

After these acquisitions, ex-Blue Star Group Holdings (ex-BSGH) was liquidated and placed in receivership on 16 January.

Andrew Grenfell and William Black from McGrath Nicol were appointed liquidators, while Michael Stiassny and Brendon Gibson from KordaMentha were appointed receivers.

ProPrint understands that secured creditors are owed more than NZ$100 million ($81 million).

The liquidators report shows ex-BSGH has NZ$59.8 million of net assets – NZ$101.6 million in assets minus NZ$41.8 million in liabilities. The assets include NZ$74.7 million in related party loans and NZ$20.9 million in accrued intercompany interest. It is unclear if these assets hold any realisable value.

[Related: Blue Star bondholders burned]

McGrath Nicol wouldn't be drawn on how much creditors were owed or how many cents in the dollar they would receive.

However, the liquidator's report confirmed that unsecured creditors were unlikely to get any money back.

Creditors include the Bank of New Zealand, which was Blue Star's lender, Goldman Sachs, which oversaw the sales process, and the New Zealand tax department.

Sturgess Holdings, Computershare, First NZ Capital, Foundation Corporate Trust and law firm Chapman Tripp are also creditors, as are former and present executives.

KordaMentha could not be reached for comment.

[Related: Ups and downs of Blue Star]

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