The High Court appointed liquidators Lynda Smart and Derek Ah Sam to Hunua Rd Manufacturing on December 16, 2025, after an application by creditor Doehler NZ.
In their first liquidators’ report released on Wednesday, Smart and Ah Sam said the company directors blamed the decline in the economy and environmental issues at its manufacturing plant for the company’s insolvency.
The company was founded in 2018 and leased a plant in Auckland’s Hunua but its lease was cancelled in September 2025 and it ceased trading the following month.
That plant remains the home of the company’s former assets, worth $2m, which are still on site following the cancellation of the company’s lease agreement.
Prior to the company’s liquidation, various parties had investigated how best to remove the assets. However, they concluded that it was uneconomic to do so, which Smart and Ah Sam agreed.
All completed inventory has been sold and only a small amount of raw materials remain, for which liquidators are investigating if any recovery may be possible.
The company’s accounting system also indicated that $23,980.62 is outstanding in debtors, which liquidators plan to recover.
Liquidators assessed that the company holds assets with a preliminary book value of $2.05m, with voidable transactions and other recovery actions still to be investigated.
As for the company’s employees, all contracts were terminated prior to the appointment of the liquidators and were paid in full.
Debts owed
Smart and Ah Sam have identified 12 security interests registered against the company at the date of liquidation, including ASB Bank, Noblesse Oblige and JSL Enterprise, which all have general security agreements (GSA) over the company’s property.
ASB Bank is owed $583,886, with JSL Enterprise owed $51,750. Liquidators are still investigating the debt owed to Noblesse Oblige, but GSA holders are owed a preliminary total of $635,636.
Secured creditors are owed a total of $89,711, with the bulk owed to Doehler NZ which petitioned to place the company into liquidation. It is owed $54,747, with Fujifilm Business Innovation NZ the next largest secured creditor, owed $21,051.
Preferential creditors are owed at least $68,100, with the bulk of this owed to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) for outstanding PAYE and GST, totalling $58,884. The remaining $9216 is owed in court costs.
As for unsecured creditors, the IRD is owed a further $81,028, with another $245,877 owed to other creditors including the Auckland Council, Foodstuffs North and South Island, the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) and Meridian Energy.
Liquidators estimate that no funds will be available for unsecured creditors.
All up, Hunua Rd Manufacturing owes creditors a preliminary total of $1.12m.
Smart and Ah Sam said it was too early to estimate a date of completion for the liquidation.
Other liquidations
Hunua Rd Manufacturing is not the only company owned by Thexton facing trouble, with his other business, Beverage Solutions, also in liquidation, owing $384,024.46.
Beverage Solutions has made no realisations of assets or distributions to creditors since it was placed into liquidation in August 2025.
One of the debts owed to the company is an intercompany loan of $86,000 to Hunua Rd Manufacturing, although, because of its liquidation, this is not likely to be repaid.
Bev Prod, a subsidiary of Hunua Rd Manufacturing, is also in liquidation and has been since June 2023.
It has debts of at least $162,987.85, although liquidators have also been unable to make any realisations or distributions, with debts likely to go unpaid.
Thexton did not reply to requests for comment.
Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.
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