Hawkins, Westpac settle

Press, 23 September 1987, Page 41

Hawkins, Westpac settle

PA Wellington The legal dispute between Equlticorp Ltd’s chairman, Mr Allan Hawkins, and his former employer, Westpac Merchant Finance, has been settled amicably. Legal proceedings were Issued when Mr Hawkins resigned from Westpac Merchant Finance to found Equiticorp in 1984. Westpac Merchant Finance was known then as C.B.A. Finance Holdings, Ltd. The , resignation prompted Westpac Merchant Finance to sue Mr Hawkins and a number of other people associated with him for breach of contract and various other matters. Mr Hawkins counterclaimed against Westpac alleging breaches of contract by the C.B.A. Bank (which merged with the Bank of N.S.W. to become Westpac). The battle became quite heated in 1984 with numerous visits to the High Court and a defamation writ taken out by Mr Hawkins against Westpac Merchant Finance’s then chairman, Mr Rob Douglas. In a Joint statement yesterday, Mr Hawkins and Westpac’s managing director, Mr Bob White, said that even though each party had genuine complaints at the time the legal actions began, no one suffered any lasting ill effects as both Westpac Merchant Finance and Mr Hawkins, through Equi- . ticorp, had prospered since their parting.