‘Coin tossed’ for hotel

Press, 2 November 1984, Page 18

‘Coin tossed’ for hotel

PA Dunedin Ownership of the Southern Cross Hotel, in Dunedin, changed recently in a deal which was akin to the toss of a coin.

The participants were the three previous owners — Government Life (which had 50 per cent of the capital), Brierley Investments, Ltd, and Robt Jones Holdings, Ltd, (25 per cent each). Brierley came out the winner.

Although the exact formula for choosing the owner

is not clear Mr Bob Jones said yesterday, “It was like the toss of a coin.”

The amount paid by Brierley to buy out the other two shareholders has not been disclosed but Mr Jones said: “They got themselves a fairly cheap hotel, but so did we when we acquired it from the Southern Cross.”

The reason for the new arrangement was Mr Jones’s unhappiness at working' with a consortium.

“I would have been as happy to win as to be bought out,” he said. “The

hotel is doing very well. I was there on Saturday night and it was jam packed. But there is still a lot to do.

“I have been pushing for a single owner for 18 months and eventually we decided to put in a roulette clause which any one party could instigate.” Mr Jones came on the scene three years ago as chairman when his private company combined with Bunting (now a Brierley subsidiary) and Government Life, to buy out the Southern Cross company.