Brewery closing in on Caledonian Hotel

Press, 4 October 1977, Page 1

Brewery closing in on Caledonian Hotel

Lion Breweries, Ltd — formerly New Zealand Breweries —is closing in on one of the few remaining independent hotels in Christchurch. Transactions in recent weeks have left the brewery with almost 40 per cent of the shareholding in the Caledonian hotel and about 5060 sq m (1.25 acres) of land. On some of the land is a recently-built eightunit block of motels. The rest is suitable for development. Three of the six shareholders in the Caledonian Hotel, at the corner of Caledonian Road and Holly Road, have sold shares to the brewery. One of them sold adjacent land to the brewery for $317,000. It is believed that the brewery has ordered a halt to some of the work now under way at the hotel as part of a $500,000 expansion and modernisation plan which was begun three months ago.

The hotel has been owned by the Coffey family since 1938. The present company, Caledonian Hotel (Christchurch), Ltd, was formed in 1948. Until a few weeks ago the shareholding, in three categories, was held equally by the four sons and two daughters of the original owners, Leo and Catherine Alice Coffey. The shareholders were Messrs T. E. Coffev, M. L. Coffev, G. M. Coffey, and I. F. Coffey, and Mesdames C. M. Goulding and M. A.

Lloyd. They each held 2000 ordinary shares, 2000 ordinary B shares, and 1335 preference shares. All of the shares have a nominal value of $2. The brewery has now acquired ajl of Mrs Goulding’s shares and twothirds of the shares held by Messrs M. L. Coffey and 1. F. Coffey. As a result, it now holds 4668 ordinary shares (38.9 per cent of the total) and 3111 preference shares (38.8 per cent).

Two weeks ago the brewery bought the ad-jacent-land, in two titles, under the single $317,000 transfer. The biggest block, of 2949 sq m, runs off Eversleigh Street towards the hotel block and is generally known as the Williamson Estate. The other block, of 1196 sq. m, is at 136 Holly Road and has the motels. Several other titles to adjacent land are held by the company or in the name of its shareholders. Houses on these sections were to have been demolished to make way for bar extensions and car parks under the now-truncated development plans. As things now stand. Lion Breweries. Caledonian Hotel (Christchurch), and shareholders in the hotel together own about lha of land around the hotel, including the hotel site. Inquiries to Lion Breweries on Friday about their interest in the hotel drew a flat — and technically correct — denial that the brewery’ had bought the

hotel. Questions about the extent of brewery activity in share-buying met a terse, “No comment.”

By yesterday, however, when details of brewery interests were itemised, a spokesman for the brewery was prepared to say, “We have bought almost 39 per cent of the shares; we have bought adjoining land; further to that I cannot say — after all, we have only a minority shareholding.” The spokesman, an executive with Lion Breweries, said that as a policy of the company, only the chief executive could comment on the brewery’s purchases. “Unfortunately I cannot get hold of him; he is en route between Wellington and New Plymouth. But I can say that there are no definite plans for the land that the company now owns. All of this will be discussed at a meeting of the Caledonian's directors with our company on October 17.” The spokesman was surprised to learn that an old mortgage held by New Zealand Breweries — for £10.187 10s issued in 1948 — still had to be discharged. Nor would he be drawn on the control the brewery had when its shareholding was combined with its position as a supplier. “The brewery’s plans are still uncertain,” he said. “We are only a minority. Nothing will be done until after the meeting."