Chateau papers go out

Press, 5 October 1977, Page 1

Chateau papers go out

About 20 of the weighty documents containing the secrets of the two Chateau Commodore hotels in Blenheim and Christchurch have so far been sent out to interested parties, according to the trustee (Mr K. J. Jensen). The documents are available only to prospective bone fide tenderers for the hotels, and the $lOO fee is refundable once the tender is received.

Of the 20 sent out, three have gone to interested parties overseas—in the United States, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Mr Jensen said yesterday that he had sent some documents to those companies and persons who had shown a keen interest

in the hotels in the last few months. The rest had gone to various firms and persons responding to the call for tenders, initially advertised on September 24, he said. Advertisements of the opening of tenders were placed in the international edition of “The Times,” in London, and Englishprinted newspapers in Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, and the United States. Tenders will close on November 7. Since Parliamentary legislation allowed a clean title on the two hotel properties, Mr Jensen, as Government - appointed trustee, has been handling negotiations for their sale. Until the clean title, prospective buyers were

daunted by the 84 liens, seven mortgages, and seven caveats attached to the properties, as well as the added complication of the financial involvement with the Merbank Corporation (in liquidation). Under the Chateau Companies Act, passed in June, the hotels must be sold by closed tender or public auction.

Mr Jensen has said that an auction is not possible because a foreign buyer would only be acceptable if the offer was considerably higher than any offer from a New Zealand concern.

The calling for tenders does not involve the Timaru Chateau Commodore, because the act did not remove the encumbrance on its title.