JBL winding up hindered

Press, 22 June 1989, Page 29

JBL winding up hindered

PA Auckland After 17 years in receivership JBL still cannot be wound up because its former managing director is taking High Court action to regain control of remaining companies in the group. Mr Jim Jeffs visited Auckland earlier in the year to give a brief of evidence to the court to support his claims. He has spent some years living in Spain. JBL receiver, Mr Doug Hazard, said he had not yet heard when or if claims would come to fruition. Mr Jeffs lodged his claims to the companies nearly two years ago. JBL was put in the hands of the Government receiver, Mr Hazard, on May 30, 1972, after multimillion-dollar debts were revealed in New Zealand, Australia, and Japan. Mr Jeffs’ two brothers and other members of his family were initially involved in the group, which once had more than 77 syndicates in investments from seafood to property and cosmetics. He alone is making the application this time. “It appears that Mr Jeffs wants to raise the whole issue of JBL again,” Mr Hazard said. "He has brought action before, but it has always been batted to one side.” Mr Hazard said that until the applica-

tion was decided 21 companies still under the JBL name could not be struck off. He had made formal application to strike them off in 1986.

JBL is understood to be the longest receivership in the country. Mr Hazard said one of the companies, Mill Valley, was now trading profitably. He would like to put it up for sale but had decided to keep trading it while High Court action was in place. “We can’t wind up JBL before then, so we may as well keep getting the money back,” he said.

When the company collapsed it had a fund shortfall in New Zealand of $4.2 million, plus accumulated debts in guarantees and interests. Through the trading out of some of the companies — one of the last being JBL Seafoods — all creditors had now been paid.

First-ranking debenture-holders had been paid back their capital in full and some interest. Second-ranking deben-ture-holders were also now getting some money back, with more payments to come.

“We made quite a lot of money in the past year with Mill Valley,” Mr Hazard said.