Matariki vineyard owes $11m
Attempts are being made to sell Hastings winery and vineyard group Matariki which is in receivership with mortgage and other debt of about $11.2 million.
Receivers John Fisk and Richard Longman, of Pricewaterhouse Coopers, revealed the plans in their first report, nine weeks after Matariki Wines and Stony Bay Wines were placed in receivership by mortgagor Rabobank.
The bank was owed $8.7 million as at September 3 - $1,572,000 by Matariki, which produced award-winning wines, and $7,164,000 by Stony Bay, which owned the Kirkwood Rd winery and the vineyard supplying the grapes.
The report says that following reduced harvests in 2011-2012, Matariki, established by former Junior All Black captain John O'Connor in 1981, had weak sales. Those sales, plus a shortage of capital, affected viability and plans were made for a sale.
It did not take place, and the deteriorating financial situation led to the receivership. Trading continued under the receivers who say they've begun a "sale and marketing process."
