Crowe petition adjourned

Press, 13 September 1988, Page 24

Crowe petition adjourned

To enable a scheme of arrangement to be put to creditors the petition to wind up Crowe Corporation was adjourned to October 17 by Master Hansen in the High Court yesterday. Kearns Corporation has mounted a campaign to salvage Crowe which is in receivership. Kearns, the Christchurchbased listed investment company, has control of the South Island firm, Hong Kong Pacific Merchant Finance, which owns more than 40 per cent of Crowe.

Mr Nick Davidson, who

appeared for Kearns and Mr and Mrs Henry Studhole, creditors of Orari Salmon Company, Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Crowe, said that when the petition was called on August 15 Kearns wanted further information about the financial position of Crowe. To obtain that a requisition for an extraordinary general meeting was made by Anthony William Crowe and the receivers of Hong Kong Pacific Merchant Finance.

At that meeting three directors were removed and three Kearns nominees, Messrs Fred

Morris (chairman), Roger Bryce Keenan and Graham Edwin Richards were appointed in their place. Mr John Lawrence Wilson, a member of the previous board, retained his directorship. On September 9 the new board ■ called a meeting of creditors which gave substantial support for the adjournment of the winding up petition to enable the scheme to be put to creditors.

Kearns was given 14 days to make an application for approval of the scheme.