$50 m of a house anyone?

[donna]

Mark Hotchin co founder of Hanover Finance has had to put his mansion up for sale as he says he can not afford to live in it! (No kidding!) I'm surprised he thought he could live in NZ again - we are a forgiving lot but surely he's better off living offshore permanently.

The mansion is probably going to set a new record - it's sale tipped to reach up to $50 million

The house became a lightning rod for investor anger after the finance company's collapse in 2008 and some of the proceeds from its sale could still be subject to the outcome of a courtroom battle involving Mr Hotchin, one of his family trusts and the Financial Markets Authority.

source

Here's hoping the proceeds do go to the ex Hanover investors.

cheers,

Donna

[Davo36]

Suitable for those wanting a nice place to sit and think about how to rip off some old people...

[Harvey Specter]

What I have always been interested in knowing (without really caring enough to sift through the hundreds of pages of court documents to try and find out) is why Mark Hotchin has been singled out for public opprobrium and having his assets frozen when Hanover had 6 directors at the time of the moratorium.

Also many people conveniently forget that the SFO, after publicly stating 'the outcome will show the public that the right result has been reached" when launching its investigation and ended up clearing the company and its directors / officers of criminal charges.

[jimO]

apparently it has a 12 car garage, i would buy it but i only have 7 cars so may have to give it a miss

[Leftette]

See, I've got the opposite problem, jimO. 13 cars and only 12 garages, and it's hard to decide which of the Royces would have to remain outdoors.

[Wayne]

Make them take turns - week about out in the cold.

[NovInvestor]

I rather buy an island with that kind of money lol, with 360 degree seaview and beach access.

[speights boy]

Hotchin's mansion on brink of sale

Oravida Group specialises in exporting New Zealand food, including dairy products, seafood and honey, to China.
Oravida is also an active investor in New Zealand.

It owns the landmark former Ports of Auckland building on Quay St in Downtown Auckland and also owns a 5 per cent stake in NZX-listed honey products company Comvita.

It is also well connected with the Government.
Oravida's website has photos of Shi playing golf with Prime Minister John Key and the company has been listed as a major donor to the National Party.

www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/8981806/Hotchins-mansion-on-brink-of-sale

[Stickman]

I pride myself on knowing a lot about what is going on in NZ business...but must be honest, knew very little about Oravinda. I also personally don't think Hotchins house is worth anywhere NEAR $50m...but someone will probably prove me very wrong.

[Ivan McIntosh]

What I have always been interested in knowing (without really caring enough to sift through the hundreds of pages of court documents to try and find out) is why Mark Hotchin has been singled out for public opprobrium and having his assets frozen when Hanover had 6 directors at the time of the moratorium.

Also many people conveniently forget that the SFO, after publicly stating 'the outcome will show the public that the right result has been reached" when launching its investigation and ended up clearing the company and its directors / officers of criminal charges.

Big difference between deciding you most likely can't prove something beyond reasonable doubt and "clearing" someone/some entity. The FMA civil suit is instructive in that regard, as was the wording of the SFO press release about the decision not to prosecute.

I think Mark Hotchin and Eric Watson both get the opprobrium rather than just Hotchin alone, although he undoubtedly gets the most...tis just that he's been in the news recently with various ongoing legal reports so stays in the public eye. Hotchin and Watson are particularly perceived as having personally benefitted with money that could have gone to debenture holders, such as dividends paid to themselves in 2008 when the forseeable future of the company, given the credit crunch, property recession and failure of just about every developer in the market, was......ah......."debateable".

In short, they or associated entities were the owners of Hannover, so they get a lot more criticism than board members without such a stake or say in the affairs of the business.

Allied Farmers shareholders are also less than impressed, but I'm not really on board that wagon. I think the continuing GFC dealt to the value of the properties concerned, and it should have been obvious to the Allied board that this was going to happen and that it needed to be factored into the purchase price. No doubt it was, just not enough.