Cornish group buys John Court

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32861, 9 March 1972, Page 20

Cornish group buys John Court

(New Zealand Press Association)

AUCKLAND, March 8.

The Auckland retail chain, John Court, Ltd, is to become part of the Cornish organisation, a Wellington-based property, retail, and manufacturing group headed by Mr A. S. Cornish.

Mr Cornish and Mr M. W. Relph, chairman of John Court, announced today that agreement had been reached on the sale of the company to Cornish Investments, Ltd, the holding company of the Cornish group. The take-over will be com-

pleted on April 20, when Mr Relph will retire and be succeeded as chairman by Mr Cornish. John Court, Ltd, will continue as a retail chain, but the name will be changed to Cornish’s. However, the management will be unchanged. Mr W. A. De Lacey will continue in office as general manager. “I do not interfere in the management of companies in which I invest,” Mr Cornish said. „ . The take-over will involve the nine stores in the John Court chain, the main Queen Street store, suburban outlets, and the store in Rotorua. John Court, established in 1906, is one of Auckland’s oldest department stores. Through the take-over by Cornish Investments, it will join a strong chain of 40 retail outlets with links in Wellington and North Island provincial cities. Like John Court, the Cornish group does not have publicly-traded shares. The only company in the group with stock exchange listing, Lamphouse Properties, Ltd, was recently sold to Credit Services Investments, Ltd.