RSL seeks $5.3M deal

Press, 24 August 1988, Page 37

RSL seeks $5.3M deal

PA Wellington RSL Holdings, a $lOO holding company which survived the crash of Registered Securities, Ltd, has applied to the Commerce Commission for permission to buy a $5.3 million building

The application was lodged with the Commission on July 27, two days after RSL, New Zealand Mortgage Guarantee Company, RSL Insurance and RSL Bonds crashed. It is the second Auckland property the company has sought permission to buy in recent months.

The previous deal, which the Commission approved, was for a building at 401 Queen Street. Permission from the Commission is required because the building, at 62 Symonds Street, is an asset of St Martins Properties (New Zealand), a publicly listed Aucklandbased company. Documents obtained under the Official Information Act show the purchase price is $5.3M

“which is to be paid by an initial deposit of $265,000 (which has already been paid) with the balance to be paid as to $3,835,000 in cash on settlement and a mortgage back to the vendor of $1,200,000.” The settlement date is given as August 31. According to the application: “RSL Holdings, Ltd, is purchasing the property partly for investment purposes and partly for the location therein of its own administrative and business premises.” The application says details about RSL Holdings are unknown ... “the purchaser has now either refused or failed to provide these for the purpose of the application. "However, any such relevant information would be on the recent

approval granted to the transfer of a property at 401 Queen Street, Auckland, from Mayfair Corporation, Ltd.” The document says that though RSL Holdings had not provided details of its asset backing, “the participants’ solicitor did verbally advise that the gross assets would be in the vicinity of $6O million.” The directors of RSL Holdings were listed on Companies Office records at the end of April as Messrs Christopher Boyle, Maurice Chatfield, and Michael Cadman. In Rotorua, plans for restructuring RSL Heritage Finance, the Rotorua company placed in receivership last month, are expected to be announced within the next five weeks.